


Hearts & Spades

by Ekala, kitarin



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Background Azul Ashengrotto, Background Cater Diamond, Background Floyd Leech, Background Grim (Twisted-Wonderland), Background Jade Leech, Background Jamil Viper, Background Kalim Al-Asim, Background Riddle Rosehearts, Background Trey Clover, Background Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland), Heartslabyul (Twisted-Wonderland), M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24383239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ekala/pseuds/Ekala, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitarin/pseuds/kitarin
Summary: When you're jumping headfirst down the rabbit hole, it's good to go with someone you trust.
Relationships: Deuce Spade/Ace Trappola
Comments: 31
Kudos: 140





	1. September Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Set between 1-27 and 1-28.
> 
> [Playlist Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RgBHJisE7Y&list=PL1_0InctjP7wWTQzZ9ABcWg6xOnuAyhq9)
> 
> Come follow us on Twitter @kitarinastala and @ekala71 if you also love Ace & Deuce~!

_o/~ Pay close attention  
Don't listen to me from now ~/o  
  
_Ace can’t sleep.

This is not a new or notable problem, except it’s late enough now that even refreshing Magicam doesn’t really bring up anything entertaining and if he doesn’t get to bed soon, he’s really going to regret it during morning flying class.

Setting his phone to charge, he reaches down for his jacket where it’s puddled on the floor beside the bed, retrieving his favorite deck of cards from the pocket. Slipping into an easy overhand shuffle meant to calm and focus his mind, he scoots back against the headboard of the oversized bed, propped up by a fluffy pillow, and lets his mind drift.

Maybe wandering down to the kitchen to get a snack would cure this restlessness, but it’s probably not a brilliant idea to be caught out and about right now either. He hasn’t quite gotten over the entire tart debacle from a few days ago and doubts he’s really earned back the trust of Rosehearts yet either.

Of course, it’s impossible to think about the Dorm Head without recalling some very vivid memories of the fight Ace still feels lucky they all survived. Riddle’s temper is always a hot flash of fury, but… the form he’d changed into that day had been genuinely terrifying.

It was the first time Ace had ever seen someone lose control of their magic in such an all-consuming manner and truthfully, it had left him feeling a little unsettled. Training the body, heart and mind was all part of being able to wield one’s magic properly – that was knowledge they’d all had drilled into them from a young age – but he’d never stopped to properly consider _why_ it was so very vital.

Magic was _potent…_ Left unchecked, was it possible that Riddle would have slowly become… a monster? A monster like the one they’d encountered on their adventure to the abandoned mines the first night of school?

Ace’s eyes snap open as he shudders with the memory, sucking in a deep breath, and then a cry breaks the silence in the room, startling the shit out of him. The spike of adrenaline sends the deck of cards skittering out of his hand and scattering across his bed.

The voice is, after all, one he’s come to know surprisingly well in the last week.

“Deuce?” Ace whispers into the darkness of their room, his heart pounding in his chest. He’s fairly certain it can’t possibly be any of their other roommates – they sleep like the dead with snores to match. “Are you awake?”

Another noise, more like a whimper, echoes back in answer and Ace finally slides off his bed, creeping quietly across the room with only the faintest bit of moonlight through the window as guidance.

Deuce is definitely still asleep, Ace thinks as he leans over his friend. His eyes are squeezed shut in a painful expression, his head tossing back and forth as he thrashes a bit, pretty obviously caught in an unpleasant a dream, and after only a moment’s hesitation, Ace reaches out to shake him by the shoulder as he whispers again. “Deuce. Wake up, Deuce!”

The thrashing ceases as Deuce rouses, sitting up with a start – groggy, confused, rambling – “Running. We’ve got to hurry. That _thing_...”

“It was a dream,” Ace whispers, swallowing hard with the realization that he isn’t the only one feeling a little haunted by recent events. Even in the darkness, he can still make out the blue of Deuce’s eyes as they dart around the room and Ace sits down on the edge of the bed, repeating himself, as much for his own comfort as for Deuce’s. “Just a dream.”

“A dream...” Deuce sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly as he starts to regain his senses, muttering to himself under his breath. “Right. Yeah. A dream. It’s been… it’s really been a week, hasn’t it? Some insane week. Never expected school to be this dangerous or stressful, keep having these… these _awful_ nightmares...” Deuce’s mind finally wakes enough to realize exactly _who_ he’s talking to – to realize that it’s the middle of the goddamn night and _Ace_ is sitting on his bed with a concerned hand on his knee. Flushing sharply with embarrassment, Deuce continues. “Didn’t mean to wake you, I’m -”

Ace has zero patience for that and cuts off the apology he can see forming on Deuce’s lips with a sharp shake of his head. “Nah, I was still up. I mean…” The honest confession slips out before he has time to overthink it, maybe so that Deuce isn’t the only one showing his vulnerable side. “I stay up late a lot, but last couple nights it’s… it’s really been insomnia city. Can’t sleep much… and it’s starting to screw up my classwork.” Running a hand through his messy hair, he gives Deuce a lopsided half-smile that the other readily returns. “But don’t let me keep _you_ up.”

Deuce’s mind is still echoing with things he doesn’t want to think about anymore and he has the urge to thank Ace for rescuing him, but the words knot on his tongue. Instead, he scoots backwards in his bed and pats the empty space left behind. “You could stay and talk with me for awhile? I… I can’t really fathom going back to sleep just yet anyway.”

The invitation makes Ace’s chest flutter strangely, but he nods and kicks his feet up onto the bed, scooting in properly to sit beside Deuce, who rolls onto his side and leans on one elbow. “...what do you want to talk about?” Ace asks softly once he’s settled, hoping it’s anything besides what’s obviously on both of their minds.

“Anything but...” Deuce starts.

“Okay...” Ace agrees immediately, his pulse finally starting to slow again as they flash each other another pair of smiles.

“Hmm...” Deuce hums under his breath, wondering what easy topic to lay out between them. “You mentioned that you do card tricks?”

As if the words themselves are a magic spell, Ace’s eyes light up and he gives Deuce a nod that manages to be one part childish exuberance and one part smug superiority. It’s an easy topic to ramble about, though Ace wishes he’d brought the deck over with him for examples, and Deuce is a rapt audience up until he starts to doze off again.

Ace trails off mid-explanation of one of his favorite trick-taking games as he hears Deuce’s breathing even out, surprised to find that he’s finally feeling a little sleepy himself. Deuce has been a good friend despite their petty bickering, especially listening to him ramble in the middle of the night like this, and Ace’s expression lifts into a fond smile as he thinks of how lucky he’s been to find someone at school that he can really trust. They’ve sincerely had each other’s back since day 1 and Ace is not at all sorry to have shaken him out of that nightmare. Deuce is also… pretty _cute_ like this, his handsome features even softer in sleep, and the thought curls warm in Ace’s chest as he reaches a tentative hand out, ruffling his friend’s dark hair with an affection that surprises himself.

Pulling his hand back swiftly, Ace thinks that maybe he should go now, thinks that if he doesn’t think too hard on any of it, maybe he’ll actually get some sleep tonight.

For the second time, he makes to return to his own bed, but the movement is just enough to rouse Deuce again and his hand shoots out reflexively, catching Ace tightly by the wrist.

_o/~ This is the right turn, wrong universe  
And taking me in full bloom  
Fireball, careful with that there  
See what you made me do? ~/o_

One foot on the floor already, Ace turns back in surprise and is further startled when Deuce yanks him down as he leans up, just far enough to catch Ace’s lips in a half-asleep graze of a kiss followed by a whisper of, “Please don’t go. I don’t want to be alone.”

Ace relents immediately, wide-eyed, his lips buzzing as he whispers back, “I… I don’t want to be alone either.” Giving in to the request, this time he fully climbs into the bed with Deuce, who is definitely only barely conscious, slipping his feet under the sheet and pulling the blanket over both of them.

Deuce’s hold on Ace’s wrist loosens but only so that he can find Ace’s hand instead, clasping it tightly.

Nose to nose and sharing the pillow, Ace squeezes Deuce’s hand back, letting the warmth of their shared space finally lull him to sleep too.

_o/~_ _I must be dreaming or  
We're on to something  
I must be dreaming for  
I don't fall in love lawlessly  
I must be dreaming or  
Pinch me to waking  
So undeniably yours  
As long as I'm losing it so completely_ _~/o_

The room is violet and gray with the light of pre-dawn when Deuce wakes again – he’s always been such an unfortunately early riser – and it takes him a long minute to realize that he’s not alone in his bed. He is, in fact, spooning someone, and after an even longer minute to recall the scraps of the previous night, he realizes it’s Ace that he’s wrapped around… and then he feels heat rise in his cheeks as he recalls that the last thing he remembers… is _kissing_ Ace.

Deuce likes to think that he’s managed to keep his crush quietly to himself in the last week, but now faced with the possibility that it might be something mutual, he feels panic crawling down his spine and arousal curling in his gut.

Ace is here, right now, in his bed, sleeping comfortably in his arms, so… he can’t be that mad at Deuce for kissing him? He certainly doesn’t _regret_ kissing him, as he’s spent the last week trying to convince himself he doesn’t have a thing for the fiery-spirited boy, but… Ace is also the first friend he’s made at school and he does _not_ want to fuck that up.

Deuce’s shifty fretting slowly rouses Ace, who pretends to still be asleep as he debates whether Deuce _is_ actually awake this time. He has no idea if Deuce will even remember kissing him last night and maybe it’s better and safer if he just convinces himself that it didn’t mean anything before there’s any possibility of having his feelings trampled. Shifting in indecision, Ace moves to leave for a third time, somehow genuinely surprised when Deuce’s arm suddenly tightens around his middle.

“Ace,” Deuce whispers softly into his ear. “Are you awake?”

Ace’s heart is hammering in his chest at the echo of his own words from last night. “...yeah.”

The hesitant response gives Deuce pause and he loosens his hold again, swallowing before he murmurs. “...you don’t have to stay.”

After a beat of silence, Ace’s hand moves to cover Deuce’s where it rests lightly against his stomach and he whispers back, “...what if I want to?”

“Do you want to?”

“Do _you_ want me to?”

There’s a moment of tense silence as they volley the first move back and forth and then Deuce finally folds. Impulsively pressing his lips to the soft skin of Ace’s neck, he pulls the other boy tighter against him and exhales a breathy, “Yessss...” into his ear.

All the hair on Ace’s neck and arms instantly stands on end, and he realizes with a start that he’s not the only one who’s turned on. Deuce is half-hard where he’s pressed up against Ace’s ass, and heat rushes south as Ace’s body responds to Deuce’s touch.

So... Ace hasn’t been imagining the vibes between them.

_o/~_ _Incendiary glance_ _  
_ _Become and collide in me_ _  
_ _Zoom in, enhance_ _  
_ _Hold while I go helplessly_ _  
_ _Sky high, magic eye_ _  
_ _Sugar rushing, don't stop_ _~/o_

Ace rolls over and they’re suddenly nose to nose again, needy red eyes on lusty blue, and this time the kiss is so mutual it’s impossible to say who actually starts it.

Deuce’s lips are impossibly soft as they catch Ace’s top lip first, then the bottom, noses bumping clumsily as they kiss, and Ace wonders if he’s actually still dreaming. He sincerely hopes he isn’t, because this is a first kiss he definitely doesn’t want to wake up from. Sliding a hand around the back of Deuce’s neck, he angles their faces, parting his lips in a teasing invitation.

Hardly able to believe this is happening, Deuce’s mind spins wildly. Is he really kissing Ace right now? Is Ace really kissing him back? His arm is still around Ace, his fingers pressing into the warm skin at the small of Ace’s back where his shirt’s ridden up, and Deuce isn’t sure whose pounding heartbeat he’s hearing. His, Ace’s, both in tandem? Growing bolder at the obvious invitation, he slides his tongue into Ace’s mouth, deepening their kiss.

Now that it isn’t wishful thinking or idle daydreaming, Ace lets himself fall recklessly headfirst into their attraction, a soft little noise in the back of his throat as Deuce’s tongue slides hot against his own. They chase each other – teasing, demanding, playfully fighting for dominance – and Ace slowly lets his hand slide back to weave his fingers into Deuce’s hair.

Answering the noise with a little groan of his own, Deuce finds himself tangled up in what to do next. He wants to pull Ace closer, wants more of Ace’s body against his own, but he can’t even feel his other hand, currently sandwiched awkwardly under and against his own body. He wants… he wants Ace _underneath_ him, and impulsively he pushes a knee between Ace’s legs, rolling them until Deuce is sprawled half on top of the other boy.

The kiss breaks as they move, both of them breathing hard, and Ace suddenly finds himself flat on his back, Deuce withdrawing just enough for their eyes to meet again. Ace lifts his other hand, taking Deuce’s face between both, thumbs dragging along his jawline, heart pounding in his ears as he offers a shaky little grin and whispers, “Don’t tell me you’re going to stop there.”

Deuce stares down at Ace and the pretty flush that’s spread from his cheeks down his neck, swallowing hard before finding his words again. “Not a chance,” he finally grins back, and then he lets himself sink down into Ace’s embrace, finally slotting their bodies together fully.

Ace’s head tips aside as Deuce’s lips find his neck, leaving a line of open-mouthed kisses from the collar of his t-shirt up to the sweet spot behind his ear. Sliding his hands down Deuce’s back until they reach the hem of his shirt, Ace slips them underneath, fingertips spreading across the sleep-warm skin of his soon-to-be-lover’s back.

Shuddering at the feeling of Ace’s hands under his clothing, Deuce feels his control slipping already. He wants to hear more of those breathy little noises out of Ace, and propped on one elbow, he reaches with the other hand to yank aside the collar of Ace’s t-shirt as he kisses down his neck again.

A bright spark of pain sends a jolt of pleasure down Ace’s spine as Deuce marks his collarbone, kissing and sucking as Ace arches underneath him with a _much_ louder moan than before and then they both freeze, panting wildly into each other’s ears.

Nothing but peaceful snoring answers them, though, and not willing to let the spell be broken, Ace drags his nails up Deuce’s back as he shifts underneath him, finally bringing their hips together perfectly.

This time, it’s Deuce’s turn to moan, and he muffles the sound of it into the crook of Ace’s shoulder as he finally feels the hard length of Ace’s cock pressed up hot against his own need.

Oh, _fuck_. Ace’s hands slide slowly down to cup Deuce’s ass as they grind against each other, and he knows without a doubt that this isn’t going to last long. He’s too worked up – they’re _both_ too worked up, feverish with the desire for release, and Ace gasps a demand as he nips at Deuce’s earlobe. “Kiss me.”

Deuce doesn’t need to be told twice and he crushes his mouth against Ace’s, kissing him hungrily, each of them muffling each other’s needy whines as they thrust against each other, chasing the high together.

Ace is pridefully stubborn even in the heat of passion, unwilling to show all of his cards until he’s certain the win is in his hand, and as such, he refuses to let go until he feels Deuce start to jerk and shudder against him.

Then, it’s all caution to the wind.

The eroticism of swallowing down Deuce’s moans as he comes unravels Ace completely and his mind whites out into a static of euphoria as he follows his lover over the edge.

_o/~_ _Euphoria_ _  
_ _I can't take, any more of you_ _  
_ _Euphoria_ __  
_I can't take, any more of you_ _  
_ _I'm losing it_ _~/o_

Awareness returns slowly as sunlight begins to creep into the room and eventually Deuce rolls off of Ace until they’re laying side by side on their backs, heads turned towards one another. “So...” he starts in a whisper, trying not to let his nerves show.

Ace can see them anyway and he smiles – not one of his usual smirks, either, but a soft little curve of his lips he doesn’t usually show to anyone else. “I should get back to my bed...” he whispers, and gestures with one thumb over his shoulder at the rest of the room. “Maybe five minutes until the alarm for morning Magift practice goes off.”

“...oh. Yeah...” Deuce answers, and he doesn’t need Ace to lay it out any further. They’ve been here at Night Raven for barely more than a week and neither of them need the gossip of being caught in bed together on the heels of the tart debacle.

“We’re cool…?” Ace asks tentatively, finding Deuce’s hand and squeezing it, trying to play it cool even while knowing his heart is on his sleeve.

Deuce squeezes back and nods, not really knowing exactly what that means, but somehow not being able to worry too much about it. “Yeah, we’re cool.”

Ace leans forward to kiss the tip of Deuce’s nose before he finally slides out of the bed, tiptoeing back to his own as fast as he can. It isn’t a moment too soon, either, as it seems like the second he dives under the covers, scattering his cards onto the floor, the alarm does go off and the day begins.

Something has irreparably changed between them, though, like a secret they’re both carrying around in their back pockets, giddy with private knowledge.

No matter what comes at them next, neither of them is going to have to face it alone.


	2. October Shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during 2-31.
> 
> [Playlist Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RgBHJisE7Y&list=PL1_0InctjP7wWTQzZ9ABcWg6xOnuAyhq9)
> 
> Come follow us on Twitter @kitarinastala and @ekala71 if you also love Ace & Deuce~!

It’s a perfect autumn night – the last gasp of summer’s warmth, with the slightest hint of a cool breeze picking up as the day’s light is fading. The clouds above the festival are puffs of rose and violet that Ace thinks rather resemble roses, but his attention is drawn away from the sky by Deuce’s elbow nudging him in the ribs.

_Right._

Riddle’s talking and he ought to be listening.

“...with the conclusion of the closing ceremony. You are all now free to find dinner at the festival, whether with your classmates or visiting family. We will reassemble at the dormitory for a celebration later tonight. Do not be late... or it will be off with your heads!”

Ace watches as Heartslabyul disperses into the crowd of students and visitors, not having any particular plans or family to concern himself with as some students do. There’s plenty to see and do, though, so there’s no chance of being bored, even if he is a little bit idly concerned about their injured friend. He only manages about three steps in a random direction before he hears Deuce’s voice calling out behind him, and really, he finds himself happy about that for more than one reason.

“Ace! Wait up!”

“What’s up?” Ace swings back around, one eyebrow raised but his expression amiable.

Deuce stops short in front of him, seemingly searching for words before he asks bluntly. “What are you getting for dinner?”

Ace studies him for a moment, a smile playing at his lips, and then he shrugs lightly, continuing in the direction he was heading and waiting for Deuce to fall into step beside him. “Hmm… what are _you_ getting for dinner?” he asks, answering the question with a question.

“I asked you first,” Deuce retorts immediately, even though he’s aware that Ace is just messing with him. Ace is _always_ giving him shit, but Deuce is slowly getting better at handing it right back.

“Need my help deciding?” Ace clicks his tongue sympathetically and Deuce rolls his eyes in response.

“You argue with yourself in the cafeteria _every_ day over what to eat for lunch.”

“Do not.”

“You couldn’t even decide your club until the night before!”

Ace snickers at Deuce’s refusal to back down and relents into an honest answer. “Dunno! Saw a lot of tasty things on the way in this morning...”

The festival streets are extremely crowded and noisy with visitors from many kingdoms, so they’re walking close enough together that the backs of their hands brush occasionally, and Ace is quietly grateful for the company. He hadn’t really wanted to navigate this place entirely on his own, even if he’s been to tournaments with his brother in years past, but he also hadn’t known if he’d run into any of his acquaintances from the other dorms with so many people here.

“Like…?” Deuce prods him impatiently, one elbow out to keep anyone from jostling them too much.

“Definitely a churro. Maybe two. But something salty first. Pizza? Fried chicken? Takoyaki-”

“Takoyaki!” Deuce’s eyes light up and he impulsively wraps a hand around Ace’s wrist, dragging him suddenly but assuredly sideways through the crowd and over to the next aisle. “I saw the best price at the 11th booth, two aisles over!”

“Well, okay, sure,” Ace laughs, but he doesn’t resist, as he truly hadn’t been committed to any particular idea. And maybe he ought to be more thrown by Deuce’s sudden exuberance, but he’s spent quite a lot of time with him in the last few weeks, and so he… isn’t. In fact, the other boy’s tendency to get instantaneously very charged up about things has become a source of reliable entertainment.

As they elbow their way to the front of the crowd around the takoyaki booth, Ace can’t help continuing to dwell on exactly how _much_ time they’d been spending together.

Goofing off in class together, studying together, eating together, helping their friends sort out the magical accidents around school… Much as he gets annoyed with Cater’s teasing the two of them, they really have been pretty inseparable.

Today, they’d really had a grand time being on tv for the exhibition, even if the opportunity had come as a reward for helping to resolve yet another case of a student overblotting. Leona, at least, had recovered from it quickly enough to still kick their asses even before Grim’s poor aim had put an unfortunate halt to their match.

And flying in front of the whole stadium? Totally worth their efforts.

But through all of this, Deuce hasn’t said anything to him about the night they’d shared a bed. Ace has no idea if he’d rather pretend it hadn’t happened – just a fluke, a first-week-of-school ‘hey, we’re lucky we’re not dead’ sort of hook-up? – but he can’t help constantly teasing Deuce get a reaction, reading into every response, every gesture... and wondering.

_Was it a one-time thing?_

They escape with a jumbo size box and Ace immediately plucks the first ball from it, but instead of eating it himself, he pushes it against Deuce’s lips with a sharp little laugh to cover his churning feelings. “Go on, tell me these were worth almost getting trampled by those Savanaclaw kids.”

Deuce’s eyes widen and his cheeks flush, but he accepts, letting Ace push the takoyaki into his mouth, both of them laughing when it’s almost too much for him to chew. He nods an enthusiastic yes instead, Ace pops one into his own mouth, and they continue meandering down the street as they eat.

The ghost of Ace’s fingertip remains as Deuce licks his lower lip, his eyes darting from Ace’s face to the box they’re handing back and forth as he spirals in his ongoing internal debate.

_o/~ Here we go again  
I kinda wanna be more than friends  
So take it easy on me ~/o_

They haven’t talked about it.

Really, he’d almost be convinced that he’d dreamt it or imagined it, if it wasn’t for the subtle changes in Ace’s behavior.

Ace, after all, is both full of mischief and prone to flirting casually with, well, just about anyone, if he thinks it’ll get him what he’s after. But Deuce has also noticed that Ace never really invades other people’s personal space and he definitely isn’t keen on letting anyone else touch him.

But Deuce is observant when he wants to be, and so he’s been tallying – the lingering hand on his arm or knee, the leaning in really close to whisper some snide remark during class, the sneaky attempts to steal french fries out of his lunch, sitting on his bed shoulder to shoulder when they’re studying… and now feeding him takoyaki? None of these are ways he’s seen Ace act with anyone else, and he also doesn’t shy away from things like Deuce grabbing him by the wrist and yet…

Deuce is also still worried that he’s merely overthinking it.

Maybe this… whatever it is... just _is_ that casual for Ace? Maybe he’s waiting for Deuce to say something, to ask him about it? Deuce has been waiting to see if Ace would say something first, but … the casual touches and strange tension building between them is slowly driving him a little bit crazy.

Ace leaves Deuce with the last takoyaki when they reach the churro booth and Deuce hangs back this time to finish it and dispose of the box, laughing at the enormous grin on Ace’s face as he claims his prize and holds it up like a sword in triumph.

That same grin has clocked him over the head more times already than he wants to admit to himself, and delivered in a flash while flying above a stadium of people, it was truly devastating. He was awfully lucky he hadn’t flat out fallen off his broom earlier today.

He wants to ask. He doesn’t know _what_ to ask.

Maybe what he really needs is to first ask _himself_ … does he want to continue pretending that nothing happened? Or does he want something more to happen between them?

Does he want to hook up with Ace again?

Deuce can’t hear Ace’s laughter over the crowd’s noise as he makes his way back towards him, but he can see it in the bounce of his shoulders. There’s a mischievous glint in those red eyes as he takes a bite of the churro.

Only it’s more like… Ace drags his tongue pointedly up the side of the churro before slowly wrapping his lips around several inches of it and making sure Deuce’s eyes are on him before he bites down.

_o/~_ _Oh, oh  
I want some more  
Oh, oh  
What are you waitin' for?  
Take a bite of my heart tonight _ _~/o_

_Oh._

Oh, yeah, he… he really _does_ want to hook up with Ace again. So... maybe it’s time he did something about that?

Ace is absolutely aware that he’s being an absolute shit with the churro, but somehow it seems way safer to make lewd jokes with food than to actually come right out and ask Deuce if what happened between them was just a one-time thing. He watches Deuce’s cheeks flush sharply and follows him he he turns and stomps out of the main flow of traffic.

Does Ace want it to be a one-time thing?

He thinks he’d do it again, given the opportunity, but he’s not really willing to examine his feelings beyond that if there’s no reciprocation.

They’re crammed into a somewhat quiet space between a jewelry stand and an ice cream line, and when Deuce reaches out suddenly to wrap a hand around Ace’s hand, the one holding the churro, his heart drops into his stomach. Has he pushed things too far? Ace isn’t really sure if Deuce is about to steal a bite of his churro, yell at him for being a tease... or…

Their eyes lock and Deuce leans in -

\- or maybe kiss him?

Ace’s phone buzzes in his pocket and startles him so badly that he whacks Deuce in the chin with the end of the churro, both laughing and apologizing as he hastily reaches to grab at his phone with his other hand.

Deuce lets go of Ace’s hand, but steals a bite of the churro in revenge, his heart racing with what had almost just happened, out here in public, in the middle of the festival where anyone could see them. What was he thinking?

“It’s Ruggie for Grim,” Ace mouths to Deuce and a moment later, everything else is forgotten as they race back towards the college. It seems the prefect is finally on the verge of waking up and they want to be there to greet their friend.

By the time they finish saying goodnight to the group gathered in the infirmary, they are decidedly late for the Heartlabyul celebration and there’s no time for anything besides running home as fast as their feet can carry them.

Out of breath and uncertain what’s waiting for them, Ace and Deuce are mutually surprised to find their entire dorm the most relaxed they’ve ever seen it. There’s loud music and dancing, kids playing both card and video games – it’s an actual _party_ , and at the center of the lounge, sprawled on a red velvet sofa in full regalia, crown and all, somehow without a single thing in disarray, is their dorm head, flanked by his two best friends.

“You’re late!” Riddle barks sharply at them, but there’s a drawl to it that says he’s at least willing to listen to the reason why.

Ace glances around the room at the party as Deuce gives a detailed account of their visit to the infirmary, trying to figure out exactly what’s different tonight. Though they thankfully hadn’t placed last in the tournament, they hadn’t been first either, and this was a very… _enthusiastic_ party.

“Very well then,” Riddle accepts the explanation as easily as the goblet full of red liquid Trey’s just refilled for him and waves them off with the other hand. “Go make yourselves presentable in your dorm uniforms and then you may have punch and tarts.”

“A little punch _now_ isn’t against any rules, is it?” Trey quirks a grin at Riddle as he hands them each a goblet and Riddle sighs a little as he relents.

“No specific rule since this isn’t an Official Unbirthday. Fine, then.”

Ace tips back a sip, parched from all their running, and Deuce follows suit, and somehow manages not to let it show on his face what they both realize in the same instant.

The punch is definitely _not_ punch. At least, not entirely.

From over Riddle’s shoulder, Cater winks at the two of them, holding up one finger to his lips before echoing their leader’s suggestion. “Go on, you heard him. I wanna get some pics for Magicame and you two are still covered in field dust!”

Does Riddle know?

Deuce’s eyes flick from Cater’s wink to Trey’s tiny little hat tip, and then Ace has him by the elbow, dragging him away towards the dorm’s bathrooms before he can give it away.

The moment they’re out of sight, they both dissolve into hysterical muffled snickers, asking each other the same questions simultaneously as they drain their goblets on their way out of the main lounge and towards the showers.

“Sweet seven, is everyone _drunk_?”

“Do you think Riddle realizes? He would never!”

“Is there a rule? Maybe there’s no rule?”

“Maybe he switched the taste?!”

“Trey must have switched the flavor with Doodle Suit!”  
  
“Ssshh! Don’t let anyone overhear us!”

This time it’s Deuce with his finger to Ace’s lips to shush him as they reach the door.

Ace stops short, his eyes merry with laughter, and then he kisses the tip of Deuce’s finger before pushing the door open.

There’s a couple of students in the front half of the communal bathrooms, one inside a stall and another fixing some eyeliner in a mirror, but in the back where the showers are, it’s empty. Everyone is already finished here, busy at the party, and so they’re free to continue their gossip as they toss the empty glasses on a counter, grab things out of their respective lockers and kick off their sneakers.

“I can’t believe he doesn’t _know_. You really think he’s that naive?” Ace muses as he pulls his shirt over his head and shoves it into the laundry bin right behind his socks. It’s been a tremendously long day of fighting, running, flying, more running, being surrounded by hundreds of people, more running, and he can’t wait to be rid of all the sweat and dirt and then happily stuff his face with tarts. “Maybe he knows and he’s just letting them get away with the prank. Maybe he really _is_ trying to loosen up!”

“Maybe…” Deuce stares at a half-clothed Ace, only half-hearing the words.

_o/~ Here we are again  
I feel the chemicals kickin' in  
It's gettin' heavier  
I wanna run and hide  
I do it every time  
You're killin' me now  
And I won't be denied by you  
The animal inside of you ~/o_

Maybe it’s the little bit of alcohol rushing his system -

Maybe it’s realizing how alone they are right now -

Maybe it’s just watching Ace casually strip in front of him -

Maybe it’s their almost-kiss from earlier tonight -

Maybe it’s the feeling of Ace’s lips against his fingertip just now, Ace’s fingertip against his lips earlier – that _fucking_ churro -

Maybe it’s finally admitting to himself that he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about _kissing_ Ace -

Maybe he’s tired of wondering.

Deuce’s heart threatens to hammer out of his chest. He’s nervous as anything, but _fuck_ – he _wants_ Ace and needs him to know it, needs to know if Ace wants him too. Shoving his own shirt into the laundry bin, he keeps right on walking, right up into Ace’s personal space.

Ace reflexively steps back, his rambling trailing off and his eyes widening as Deuce crowds him up against a closed locker, one hand landing beside his head with a solid _smack_. There’s just enough time to feel his pulse quicken at the heated intensity in those blue eyes and then Deuce closes the tiny amount of space between them, catching Ace’s lips with his own.

This is definitely no longer a one-time thing.

This is also not the soft and tentative first kiss they shared half-awake in bed.

Ace kisses Deuce back, hard and immediate, one hand lifting to curl around the back of his neck, demanding a second kiss and a third. Deuce has thrown his cards down on the table with a flourish and Ace will be damned if he doesn’t respond in kind. He’s been teasing Deuce non-stop for weeks, after all – thinking he was in control of the situation, in control of his own feelings, but the floor’s suddenly dropped out from under him and he’s free-falling. Ace can still taste the fruity remnants of their punch as he drags his tongue across Deuce’s lips and he can’t help but grin into their kisses.

Deuce feels that grin and sinks his teeth into Ace’s lower lip in response, flushing when Ace bites back, and then he abruptly breaks off the kiss, whispering fast and feverishly against Ace’s lips. “I... I need to know… that you want this.” He knows he’s probably being dumb to second-guess, and maybe asking for confirmation even comes off as insecure, but… he wants _zero_ misunderstandings about what’s about to happen, whatever it is.

“I haven’t made that obvious?” Ace’s answering whisper ends in an equally nervous little laugh. They’re so close that he can feel the heat radiating between their bare chests and can’t actually focus his eyes on Deuce’s anymore, but he lets his hand slip up further, tangling in the back of Deuce’s hair.

“Need to hear you say it.” Deuce leans in again to mouth a line of kisses along Ace’s jaw and down Ace’s neck, then realizes he’s not being exactly fair by demanding such a confession without being brave enough to say it himself. “...cause _I_ want _you._ Ace.”

A shudder ripples through Ace, though he can’t quite tell if it’s from Deuce’s words or Deuce’s lips pressed hard against the pulse point under his ear. “Deuce...” he caves easily now that he’s finally gotten the truth he’s been seeking, his voice low and mischievous again. “I want you too.”

The honest confession slides off Ace’s tongue with such grace that it only incites Deuce, as he thinks about the weeks and weeks of confused frustration he’s endured. His teeth graze Ace’s neck only to have Ace’s fist tighten in his hair, yanking him back with a tsk of playful annoyance. “...hmm?” he queries.

“Last mark you left me took a week to fade,” Ace mutters, his ears attuned to the bathroom stall, the running of the sink, the door opening and closing again. They’re definitely alone right now, but absolutely playing with fire.

“S-sorry,” Deuce mumbles, his cheeks flaring a bright red at being called out, but Ace cuts him off before the apology can get any further.

“No, I...” Ace laughs softly under his breath at the misunderstanding, dragging Deuce by the hair until his nose bumps Ace’s collarbone. “Where you left it last time is better.”

“...oh. _Oh_.” It takes Deuce a second to realize what Ace is trying to tell him, but then he smirks in a rather feral way. “Got it.”

Ace has to swallow back a moan as the dark-haired boy sucks an even deeper mark into his skin than the first time, one that has him straining uncomfortably in his gym shorts from the painful pleasure of it. He lets go of Deuce’s hair in favor of spreading both hands across his bare back, slowly dragging his nails down until Deuce breaks away with a choked up little noise of his own.

The bathroom door swings open with a crash, admitting several of their loud, laughing, and obviously tipsy classmates, and they both instantly freeze, tempted to spring apart, but not really wanting to let go of the moment. No one can see them unless they wander back here, but...

_o/~ Hush, hush, the world is quiet  
Hush, hush we both can't fight it ~/o_

What happens next is an impulsive decision on Ace’s part, but he has no idea when they might get this chance again and… and they certainly can’t go back out to the party like _this_ – both obviously flushed and sporting hard-ons that will definitely not be at all concealed by their very tight, white dorm uniform pants.

Ducking out from under Deuce’s arm, Ace reaches into the stall to flip the water on, covering their voices. “Get in with me,” he hisses, his eyes burning into Deuce’s, once again a demand and not an actual question. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he shucks the rest of his clothing off his hips, shoves it unceremoniously into the laundry bin, and disappears behind the curtain.

Left alone, Deuce struggles to contain his internal freak-out. Last time… last time they did this, it was in his bed, half-awake, in the mostly dark, and fully clothed. It had happened so fast that he hadn’t even really had time to think about it before it was over. But this? He’s been dwelling on hooking up with Ace again for weeks, and now that the moment is here, he’s terrified he’s going to somehow fuck it up.

Deuce swallows hard and slowly drags his shorts off his hips, shoving them into the laundry bin. Behind that curtain, Ace is waiting for him, naked and probably wet, and maybe the only real way to fuck it up would be to leave him hanging.

And he’s not going to let his own shyness keep him from what he wants.

Inside the shower, Ace sidesteps the icy water and turns, putting his back to the wall and tipping his head against it. All the hair on his arms is standing up and he forces himself to exhale slowly, though it does little to calm either his racing heart or his eager cock. He counts his own heartbeats, wanting to trust that he hasn’t been too forward, and he’s only made it to eleven before the curtain parts again for Deuce’s tentative hand.

It’s not even the first time they’ve seen each other undressed – after all, they share a room, and they change and shower here and in the locker rooms for sports often enough – but it’s the first time they’ve ever been able to _look_ to their heart’s content.

Deuce is a runner and it shows in the long, lean lines of his body as Ace’s eyes travel down his chest and the outline of his abs, stealing one glance lower before flickering back up to meet Deuce’s eyes. “Water’s still fucking cold,” he shoots a hand out to land in the center of Deuce’s chest, warning him.

Deuce pauses halfway into the shower, a hand against the wall where he can feel the temperature, and gazes at Ace through the curtain of the water falling between them. Ace’s fiery hair is already damp and sticking to his cheek on the side where his nervous little grin is quirked, and the flush that started in his cheeks has spread down his neck and into his shoulders, highlighting the sprinkling of freckles that Deuce hadn’t noticed until now.

Ace tilts his head, one eyebrow lifting in a question as he watches the slow smile rising on Deuce’s face. “...what?”

“...you’re really pretty,” Deuce murmurs honestly, too smitten to overthink the words.

Ace’s mouth opens and closes in genuine surprise, but before he can come up with an actual response, Deuce steps the rest of the way into the shower and the curtain ripples closed behind him. Wrapping his hand around Ace’s wrist, he pulls Ace’s hand away from his chest, up to his shoulder, yanking him closer with the same motion.

Not expecting it, Ace slips a little and they collide under the water, laughing and then shushing each other in quick succession. Ace’s hands are on Deuce’s shoulders and Deuce’s hands are on Ace’s hips, noses bumping, cocks brushing. The water is starting to get warmer as it flattens their hair and this close up, Ace can watch the individual droplets catching in Deuce’s dark eyelashes. “...so are you...” he finally murmurs, and when Deuce gives him a puzzled look, he only laughs and then kisses him.

Deuce’s mind catches up a second later as he realizes that Ace is echoing his earlier words, but there’s no time to be embarrassed by it, because Ace is pinning him bodily to the wall of the shower. Ace’s tongue is in his mouth, hot and insistent, and Deuce finally stops thinking altogether.

Ace would love to believe he has the upper hand, but Deuce kisses as fiercely as he fights, as passionately as he argues, and he doesn’t relent until he’s sucked Ace’s tongue hard enough to drag a throaty little moan out of him. Greedily swallowing it up, Deuce’s hands slide up and down Ace’s back, enjoying all of the wet, slippery skin under his fingertips. Growing braver, he curls both hands around the curve of Ace’s ass, pulling him in tight as he finally rolls their hips together.

Last time, they’d had two layers of clothing in the way and never once laid an actual hand on each other. Ace has been jacking off to _that_ memory for weeks, and yet it’s nothing compared to the feeling of having Deuce’s cock dragging hot and hard and leaking against his own, skin to skin and pulse to pulse. He knows he could absolutely get off just like this – lost in the friction, in the unhurried and sensual grind of their bodies, drowning in each other’s kisses until they can’t breathe.

But.

Ace also hasn’t forgotten about the invisible timer over their heads.

The last thing he wants is for anyone to come looking for them because they’re taking too long.

And… he really wants to know what having Deuce’s hands on him feels like.

And… he _really_ wants to know what having Deuce’s cock in his own hands feels like too.

Breaking their kiss, Ace leans back just enough to grab a pump of soap from the dispenser on the shelf, and out of the corner of his eye, watches Deuce’s expression shift from glazed confusion to sharp understanding.

As if they were practicing some special coordinated hand shake, Deuce meets Ace’s palm with his own, sharing the slick on their way down, foreheads bumping as neither can look away from the sight.

Deuce realizes suddenly that he has no hope of ever getting off to porn again. Water catches the light as it runs down Ace’s front, highlighting the flush of his skin, and neither of them hesitates to take the other in hand. He feels more than hears Ace’s exhale of pleasure, entranced by the way Ace’s cock looks in his hand and the way his own looks in Ace’s, tilting his hips just enough that their knuckles brush as they move.

This image is going to be burned into his mind forever, Deuce thinks.

Ace can’t help the shiver that ripples over him as Deuce’s hand encircles his cock, squeezing lightly, and he answers in kind, thrilling at the warm weight enclosed in his fist. Even the slightest movement draws a reaction out of Deuce – a sharp intake of breath, a twitch in his hips – and Ace can’t get enough, riveted to the sight of their slippery cocks as they slowly start to stroke each other.

It’s yet another competition between rivals, but one where it hardly matters who wins or loses. Does he win if he forces Deuce to come first, the same way he’d stubbornly held out for the first time… or would making him wait, making him listen to Ace come first, bring more pleasure? These inconsequential thoughts spin in Ace’s mind and he wants to laugh at his own indecision, but the sound comes out as another breathy little moan instead and… and maybe it’s not a decision he can even consciously make anymore.

Something about the way Ace sounds as he moans has Deuce feeling completely impatient all at once and he rumbles under his breath, nudging Ace’s hand out of the way so he can press the undersides of their cocks together, stretching his own hand around both. He revels in Ace’s surprised little noise, squeezing them together as he grinds his hips up. The slide of their cocks against each other makes his breath catch in his throat and he hopes Ace is as close as he is because he’s not going to last much longer, heat curling all the way down to his toes. “Ace,” he groans, sounding far more needy than he means to.

“Deuce...” Ace chokes out, adjusting his hand until they are working in tandem, Deuce urging their pace faster while Ace’s thumb drags circles across both their leaking heads. He can feel his pulse throbbing in his cock as he rocks up onto his tiptoes, pressing Deuce even harder into the wall. “I – nnggh -ah~”

Hearing Ace this unraveled and knowing it’s his fault only feeds into Deuce’s own pleasure. He can tell himself that he’s kissing Ace again to shut him up, to not blow their cover, but the truth is that he very much wants to devour every single one of those moans and gasps as Ace falls apart against him. Satisfaction rushes Deuce like a tidal wave and the second he feels Ace spilling hot over both their hands, he lets the rush sweep him away too.

_o/~ It's us that made this mess  
Why can't you understand?  
I won't sleep tonight ~/o_

Ace isn’t sure how long it takes before he can separate the frantic sound of their breathing from the steady rush of the falling water, but it’s probably too long. He’s leaning against Deuce, boneless in his arms, face pressed into the crook of his shoulder, and he feels like he ought to say something, anything – witty or cool or –

“...wow,” Deuce murmurs into Ace’s hair, then startles as Ace’s face lifts up from his shoulder to meet his eyes with a soft little laugh. “...what?” his eyebrows furrow, somewhere between insulted and confused.

Words come to him instantly and Ace lets them go unchecked. “Let’s not wait so long next time.”

Deuce stares at Ace’s warm little grin, at the heart bleeding down the side of his cheek, and all that really matters is that he already knows there’s going to be a next time. It’s not a question anymore. They are definitely a _thing_. He answers Ace with a grin of his own and a kiss to the rise of his cheekbone that makes him fluster slightly.

There’s so much more they could and probably ought to talk about, but they’re both decidedly aware of how long they’ve already taken and without so much as a word of communication, they rush their way through the rest of their shower. Ace’s hair is still damp against the back of his neck as he pulls his uniform on and they take turns inspecting each other, because if there’s anything missing or out of place, Riddle _will_ notice.

Once they’re perfect, Ace pulls his magic pen from his pocket for the finishing touch and taps it against his cheek. With a sparkle of magic, the red heart re-paints itself perfectly around the corner of his eye and he winks at Deuce, watching him through the mirror. Deuce flushes slightly at being caught, but he doesn’t break Ace’s gaze as he taps his own pen to the opposite cheek, the black spade appearing with an echoing sparkle.

Back in the lounge, several Caters are nearly finished corralling the entire dorm into a line-up for a group picture and they slip into the side of it just in time. Or so Ace thinks until the gaze of one of the Caters – maybe the real one – lingers on the two of them with a slow, pointed and _knowing_ grin. It’s teasing and not malicious, so Ace only smiles back enigmatically as he makes a heart shape with his hands and leans his shoulder companionably against Deuce’s.

The picture is snapped and they all immediately devolve into multiple groups taking selfies and everyone mass posting to Magicame, yelling and sharing photos from other dorms’ parties as they devour the remaining tarts. Everyone is definitely a little bit loose and silly by now, and not even reallyrule-compliantly respectably put-together, but Riddle seems to have let it go for the night.

The laughter in the air and the ease they have as a dorm now that no one’s walking on eggshells anymore is palpable and positively frabjous.

_o/~ Oh, oh  
I want some more  
Oh, oh  
What are you waitin' for?  
What are you waitin' for?  
Say goodbye to my heart tonight ~/o_


	3. November Leaves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set just before Episode 3.
> 
> [Playlist Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RgBHJisE7Y&list=PL1_0InctjP7wWTQzZ9ABcWg6xOnuAyhq9)
> 
> Come follow us on Twitter @kitarinastala and @ekala71 if you also love Ace & Deuce~!

_o/~ Somewhere in the middle  
I think I lied a little  
I, I said if we took it there, I wasn't gonna change  
But that went out the window ~/o_

“Aaaahhhh,” Ace lifts his arms over his head, palms to the sky, fingers entwined, stretching out his back with a noise of satisfaction. “Can’t believe the last class of the semester is finally over! I’m _so_ ready for winter break!”

Deuce raises a dubious eyebrow at his friend, pulling his jacket a little more snugly around himself, wondering how Ace can simply prance down the path with his jacket undone and falling off one shoulder and not immediately freeze to death. He’s a pretty sight, though, his auburn head tossed back with an enormous grin as he watches the clouds rolling across the rich, cerulean sky. “It’s a nice thought, but we’ve gotta get through exams first,” Deuce finally sighs in answer, trying to keep the dejected tone out of his voice.

There’s a brisk wind blowing across the courtyard this afternoon, pulling a rainbow of leaves down from the trees and sending them fluttering across the intricate stonework under their feet. Ace playfully flicks his pen towards a swirl of them, letting go the tiniest bit of his wind magic – he’s been working on precision, smaller bursts, better control – to send a few of them in their direction. Reaching out, he snatches a huge red maple leaf out of the air, smoothing it out between his long fingers before reaching over to tuck the stem into Deuce’s chest pocket beside his pen. “Come on, you’ve got plenty of time to study,” he chides lightly. “There’s no sports practice, no homework… it’s a perfect afternoon to relax.”

“You’re crazy,” Deuce shakes his head with a laugh of disbelief, catching Ace’s hand with his own just before he pulls away. “It’s the perfect time to study.” He only half-believes those words, but oh, how he wants to really mean them. Glancing around to see that no one’s really nearby, he sneaks a brief graze of his lips against Ace’s knuckles before letting go. “And that’s how I’m planning to spend my time until dinner.”

“Being a model student?” Ace teases, but there’s a twinkle in his eyes as he brings his hand to his lips and kisses the spot Deuce had his lips against a moment ago, expecting the usual fluster in answer. When he doesn’t get an immediate retort, his eyes flicker over to his friend, noticing the tension in Deuce’s back and the furrow in his brow. Ace’s words are softer and more serious the second time. “...you really that worried?”

“No. Yes.” Deuce shrugs, giving up on his jacket as the wind picks up again, and shoves his hands into his pants pockets to keep them warm. “It’s not like I’m worried about failing, but… I really want to do well… to impress my mom.”

“Ah...” Ace doesn’t know a ton about Deuce’s life prior to Night Raven College, but he’s known since the first week of school that Deuce used to be a bit of a delinquent and that he’s absolutely intent on changing his ways. He’s teased him about it plenty of times, but… somehow this doesn’t seem like quite the right time. “Well, getting all bent out of shape about it definitely isn’t gonna help.”

“I know,” Deuce sighs heavily, then asks, “You… really aren’t stressed at all?” He doesn’t mean for the question to come out sounding so rude, as if he’s accusing Ace of being untruthful, but he really can’t imagine _not_ being worried.

“I dunno...” It’s Ace’s turn to shrug this time, but he doesn’t have any reason not to be honest with Deuce about his thoughts, so he decides to open up a little for once and elaborate. “I have to admit that I’ve never really been the type to study a lot. I pay attention in class most of the time, try to remember to do my homework, and I guess I… I’ve always gotten by well enough?”

Of course Ace is naturally bright in that way – he’s too clever with words, ideas, plans, _not_ to be – and Deuce isn’t sure if he’s more frustrated or jealous at this revelation as he huffs in response. “This isn’t some weekly quiz, y’know. It’s everything we’ve learned so far! A lot of material! Or don’t you care about what your final standing is going to be for your first semester?”

“Of course I-”

But Deuce isn’t finished – in fact, he’s quite on a roll. “Riddle will have our heads if we pull down Heartslabyul’s average. You know he’s usually number one? I can’t even _imagine_ being number one. Can you?”

“Not really.” Deuce is almost more mumbling to himself than directly addressing Ace, but Ace doesn’t bother trying to interrupt the stream of consciousness a second time. It’s… _cute_ when Deuce gets like this and he tends to learn a lot about the boy’s inner thoughts if he shuts up long enough to listen.

“Well, now’s the time to prove ourselves!” Deuce says, pumping an enthusiastic fist into the air before turning to Ace with bright eyes. “We should study together.”

“We study together all the time,” Ace snickers with a roll of his eyes, because the kind of “studying” they’ve been doing lately _is_ exactly how he wants to spend the afternoon: making out on one of their beds or in a secluded corner of the rose garden.

“No, I’m being serious,” Deuce insists, his cheeks coloring swiftly as he clearly shares Ace’s train of thought about their previous attempts at study sessions. “We should _actually_ study. I think it’s a good idea, don’t you? You can keep me from overthinking everything and getting frazzled about what to review, what order to study things in, what’s actually worth reviewing...”

Ace hip bumps Deuce to grab his attention back from his own rambling and gives him a playfully skeptical look. “Sounds like a lot of work – and what do you think _you_ can do for me in return?” There’s a lot of answers Ace hopes he’ll get to that question, but -

Deuce shakes out of his thoughts at the implication and gives Ace a condescending little smirk as he bumps him back. “Get you to study at _all?_ Even a _little_?”

“Fair.” Ace laughs loudly at the insult, knowing there’s merit in Deuce’s arguments. He really ought to try and get _some_ actual studying in, even if he thinks the chances of living up to his older brother’s scores are slim. “Fine, fine, we can study together this afternoon...”

Besides, agreeing to study means getting to spend the entire afternoon close to Deuce – maybe even alone, which they haven’t managed at length since the day of the Magift party. While they’re often together, they’re also usually in the company of other Heartslab students or the pair from Ramshackle… definitely not alone. And sure, they’ve made out briefly here and there and even snuck into each other’s beds late at night a couple of times, but… it’s always stolen time.

And lately, he’s been wanting _more_.

When this flirtation first started, Ace had firmly told himself that he wasn’t going to let it change anything between them. They were… friends. Even if they tended to also drive each other a bit crazy, they’d been through a lot that first week of school and… and bonded. He’d almost convinced himself that’s all that first middle-of-the-night make-out was: a one-time affair brought on by unusual events.

...But then they’d hooked up again, quite deliberately, quite mutually, quite spectacularly… and now... now he was taking any excuse either of them could come up with to get more time alone. His in-class daydreams were all about having Deuce’s hands on him again. His nighttime dreams were even more colorful.

So okay, maybe he’d lied a little about the just friends thing.

They are definitely a little _more_ than friends and Ace is tired of nothing but stolen moments that leave him – _ugh_ – yearning for more. Glancing over at Deuce as they reach the entrance to Heartslabyul’s dorm, Ace thinks he isn’t alone in that problem, though… and that it won’t take that much prodding to prove it.

Inside the dorm, Cater’s running a study session in the main lounge – mellow music, snacks, and lots of kids working together in groups. Deuce contemplates whether or not to stay, but it’s noisier than he prefers when trying to focus and too likely to end up a distraction. “Pretty noisy here...” he leans in close to whisper to Ace, close enough to be distracted by the warmth radiating off of him. “Wanna try our room?”

Ace shrugs, then offers an answer casually like he hasn’t been wishing, hoping or plotting this very thing all day. “Didn’t our roommates say they were going to a big study group over at Octavinelle this afternoon?”

“Huh, did they?” Deuce follows Ace as he criss-crosses the room to grab a couple of cold sodas from the snack table and they both thank Cater before heading down the hallway to their room.

“I don’t know anyone from that dorm very well yet, do you?” Ace picks up their conversation again, rolling the can back and forth between his hands.

“Nah, not really, but I hear they’re got a lot of excellent students...” Deuce pushes their dorm room door open and holds it for Ace, letting it close behind them as he continues. “Octavinelle’s dorm head is always one of the top scorers too, up there with Rosehearts.”

The room is empty and quiet, just as they’d both hoped and expected, and their eyes flicker to each other’s faces for a moment before they both start moving in opposite directions.

Ace shrugs out of his jacket, tossing it onto his bed, his vest following right after it. “Yeah, I heard they’ve got some legendary study guides or something. Grim was yammering on about it at lunch yesterday.” Rolling up his shirt sleeves next, Ace watches as Deuce immediately starts getting all of his books, guides and notes ready on his desk, pointedly not looking in his direction. That’s not enough to deter Ace, though, and he loosens his tie a little more before finally throwing himself down in a sprawl across Deuce’s bed.

Deuce pauses mid-motion at the sound and exhales a huffy little sigh. “What are you doing? Are you gonna pull your chair over here or what?” He _wants_ to be good. He _wants_ to study. He _wants_ to...

“...no?” Raising an eyebrow, Ace makes a show of stretching again before beckoning to Deuce with one curled fingertip. “Deuce.”

“Uh-uh, this was not part of the agreement,” Deuce mutters, but he can feel how hot his face is flushing and he can’t help sneaking a glance. Ace looks so unfairly sexy laying on his bed like that, his shirt half untucked and one collarbone exposed. It isn’t as if Deuce _doesn’t_ want to kiss the ever-loving shit out of him right this instant, but - “You said you were going to actually study with me.”

“Come on,” Ace wheedles softly, his smile a perfect Cheshire grin. “Just for a few minutes? We never get…” His words trail off abruptly, his smile suddenly faltering. _A_ _ny time alone_ is how he wants to finish that sentence, but he can’t quite let himself seem too clingy, too… vulnerable.

Deuce can guess at what Ace was going to say anyway, and it’s true, they really don’t get much time alone. He’s thought the same thing to himself more than once in the last week, in fact. “…I know.” There’s always someone else around, but right now, he’s pretty sure their roommates probably won’t be back before dinner. The temptation to indulge for a little bit is far too strong to resist and even if that’s a feeling he probably ought to examine more closely, now isn’t the time. Not when Ace is staring at him like _that._ “...fine. But then we’re going to study!”

“So get over here,” Ace sits up, holding out an expectant hand, immediately all easy smile again.

Decision made, Deuce shrugs out of his jacket, hanging it over the back of his chair. He puts one knee on the bed as if he can’t quite decide exactly what he wants to do, but then Ace grabs him by the tie and yanks him in nose to nose with a triumphant little grin.

_o/~ Exactly where I want me, yeah  
Underneath your body, yeah  
If we take it further, I swear I ain't gonna break  
So baby, come try me, baby, come find me  
Baby, don't wind me up ~/o_

Deuce goes down easily, crushing Ace’s body under his own and wiping that smug little smirk off of Ace’s lips with a kiss they’ve both been craving all day. Ace kisses him back, licking a teasing line along Deuce’s upper lip until their tongues are tangling in an increasingly familiar and ever more desirable duel.

Ace lets go of Deuce’s tie in favor of wrapping both arms around the other boy, his hands sliding down Deuce’s back until they reach his ass. He can feel the hitch in Deuce’s breathing within their kiss and he hums back as he squeezes Deuce’s ass, rolling his hips upwards and grinding their quickly growing arousals together.

_Fuck_. Deuce suddenly breaks away with a groan and immediately rolls off of Ace, already breathing hard from the intensity of their kissing. “This is _not_ what we’re supposed to be doing. I… I really do need to study, Ace.”

Startled by the sudden reversal and the tight feeling in his chest that comes with it, Ace takes a moment to find his words again as they lay side by side, staring at the ceiling. “I know you do. We both do – But... we’ve been so stressed out,” he finally says slowly, rolling onto his side to study Deuce’s face. “You really don’t think doing this first, while we’re alone, while we’ve got the time…” He reaches out to brush a few strands of blue-black hair out of Deuce’s face, his thumb lingering over the spade around his eye. “Wouldn’t it help you relax?”

Deuce can’t quite meet Ace’s eyes, because he knows if he does, he’s going to immediately give in again. A huge part of the reason he’s trying to get himself to study is because he’s more than aware of how much time he’s spent in class studying, staring at and daydreaming about Ace. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to study first?” he tries, though the words are not without obvious effort. “Let this be a…” he catches Ace’s wrist gently. “...a reward, after doing what we’re supposed to?”

Ace laughs sharply with a shake of his head, snatching his hand back. “Not to me,” he admits. “I… can’t study like this.” And to prove his point, he lets his hand slide down his chest until he can palm his half-hard cock through his pants, watching as Deuce tries pointedly not to look at him. “I can’t just… ignore what being near you does to me.”

“Ace…”

Hearing Deuce say his name like that, low and dangerous, only urges Ace on. “Can you ignore this, Deuce?” His hand snaps out towards Deuce instead, outlining the shape of the other boy’s swelling cock through his pants with thumb and forefinger. “Can you really... _focus_?”

_o/~ I know that I seem a little stressed out  
But you're here now, and you're turning me on  
I wanna feel a different kind of tension  
Yeah, you guessed it, the kind that's fun  
I hate it when you leave me unattended  
'Cause I miss ya, and I need your love  
But my mind is running wild, could you help me slow it down? ~/o_

Deuce shudders as Ace’s touch runs through his blood like fire, igniting everything he keeps trying to stuff down. Ace has just as much of an effect on him, even if he hasn’t outright said so. “No...” he spits the word out in a groan of frustration and it’s all the answer Ace needs.

He’s up on one knee in a second, swinging a leg over Deuce and straddling him. Ace enjoys the one glorious heartbeat of aroused surprise in Deuce’s bright blue eyes before leaning down to kiss him again.

Finally folding entirely, Deuce wraps his arms around Ace and kisses him back, passionately and unreservedly. Ace’s mouth is so hot against his own as they devour each other and he can’t really bring himself to feel at all sorry for giving in to what he really, deep down, wants most. _Ace._

Ace slowly grinds his hips into Deuce’s, unable to help the little noise that escapes into their kiss as Deuce’s hands run up under his untucked shirt to spread across the bare skin of his back. Oh, he wants this so badly right now and nothing is more of a rush than knowing he isn’t alone in that feeling. _Deuce._

It’s hard to have coherent thoughts when Ace is sucking his tongue so hard he can hardly breathe, and at first, Deuce thinks maybe they’re going to jack off together again, like they did the first time. But Ace’s nimble fingers are already unbuttoning Deuce’s vest, his shirt, loosening his tie and pulling it free before Deuce manages to wedge a hand in between them in attempt to unbutton the rest of Ace’s shirt too.

Ace doesn’t stop there, though, finally breaking away from Deuce’s lips to trail a line of wet kisses down his neck and nip his teeth against a collarbone. Deuce buries a fist in Ace’s fluffy hair instead, flushing all the more when Ace continues onward, on his hands and knees now, traveling down his body, scooting back enough to flick his tongue over one of Deuce’s nipples.

Deuce exhales a garbled noise that makes Ace laugh softly, and he glances up to see that Deuce is watching him, just a sliver of that bright blue peeking out from half-lidded eyes. Ace shifts once more, until he’s crouched between Deuce’s legs, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his fly even as he’s breathing out a question, rushed and soft, impulsive but certain. “Can I…?”

Ace’s eyes blaze like fire when Deuce meets them, and even though he isn’t even entirely certain what he’s agreeing to, Deuce has no doubt that he wants anything and everything if Ace is the one offering. “Y-yeah...” he chokes the word out as Ace slowly works him free of his pants, his gaze shifting and his mouth dropping open as Ace sinks down and presses a kiss to the tip of his cock.

He’s never done this to anyone before, but Ace has watched enough porn to not feel totally clueless. After all, one of the perks of having an older brother is borrowing his clothes, his video games _and_ his stash. Besides, he doesn’t get the feeling – as he drags his tongue along the underside of Deuce’s cock and listens to the gaspy little noises he gets in response – that Deuce has ever done this with anyone before either. There’s no pressure to be an expert, even if Ace prefers to pretend even to himself that he has all the confidence in the world.

Deuce is entranced watching Ace dragging his tongue against his overheated skin, thoughts quickly falling into a blur of desire. He'd heard of this sort of thing before, but it hadn't seemed nearly as attractive in description as it does in reality, right now, with Ace's crimson eyes still locked on his as he slips his lips over the head of Deuce's cock. Deuce thinks about the feel of Ace's dick in his hand, thinks about what it would feel like to have that in his mouth just as Ace's tongue does something great, and has to slap a hand over his mouth to muffle the groan of pleasure that spikes through him.

Ace has always been good at reading people, at noticing the nuances in expressions and reactions, faces and voices, but he never really considered how well that could serve him in this particular pursuit. Feeling the way Deuce shifts underneath him and listening to the sounds spilling from his lips, even muffled behind his shirt sleeve, is not only an easy study guide for figuring out what he enjoys most, but it’s also turning Ace on so badly that his hands are visibly shaking by the time he finally wraps one around the base of Deuce’s leaking cock.

Deuce already feels like he's burning up from head to toe, but he can't find it in himself to be embarrassed at how quickly he's fallen apart when he can _feel_ Ace make a satisfied noise as he shudders, stifling another moan. He clutches at Ace's shoulder, absolutely dizzy with pleasure, desperately trying to communicate how close he is already. "Ace," he gasps, but that's all he can manage before he has to muffle himself again, biting down on his sleeve and throwing his head back against the bed.

The warning is appreciated, but Ace has already made up his mind that he’s not letting go and he moans that refusal deep in his throat, unsurprised when the vibration of his voice around Deuce’s cock finally causes him to give in. Ace drinks it down with a shiver of smug triumph as he jerks every last bit from Deuce, the experience of hearing him come so much different when Ace isn’t distracted by his own orgasm. It’s really a powerful rush, wrecking someone so completely in this manner, and Ace thinks he’d really like to do it another hundred times at least.

There are going to be teeth marks in Deuce’s arm tomorrow despite the shirt in the way, he thinks as he pulls his arm away from his face just in time to watch his softening cock slip from Ace’s swollen lips. Deuce’s brain has all but melted out of his ears, leaving him flustered and dazed, and he lets go of the first inane thought to enter his mind. “Guess we can… get back to studying now?”

“Wow. Was it that bad?” Ace scoffs, sitting back on his heels and trying to make light of Deuce’s words, hating the fact that he’s genuinely insulted and wounded. His rejection of those feelings puts him on the offensive again immediately, raising an eyebrow as he teases Deuce. “Didn’t _sound_ like it was bad.”

Deuce doesn’t realize he’s made the Wrong joke until the sees the flicker of pain in Ace’s eyes – there and gone in such an instant that Deuce almost thinks he imagined it – but everything that was open and needy in Ace’s expression mere minutes ago seems to have completely vanished. “What? No!” Deuce cracks in a whole different way than he even knew he was capable of as he realizes he’s really hurt Ace’s feelings by saying something careless again. “It was… you were... amazing. Fucking great. I was just...”

“You were just…” Ace mimics him, but when he doesn’t get an answer, he climbs up the bed again, sitting on Deuce’s legs, and, eyes slightly askance, asks him quietly. “...you’re really going to leave me hanging? So you can get back to studying? I mean, if you do, I’m probably just going to lay on your bed and...” Ace lets his words trail off suggestively as he reaches a hand down towards his still painfully hard cock and he’s startled when Deuce actually slaps it forcefully away, settling his own hand over the bulge in Ace’s pants.

“No!” Deuce snaps out harshly, then bites his own words back, starting again more gently. “I…come on, you know I was joking. I...” He doesn’t want to admit Ace that he’s never done _this_ particular thing with anyone before, or that Ace is pretty much his first _everything._ He doesn’t want to admit to being insecure about their escalating... relationship?, nervous about exams, anxious about disappointing Ace, his mother, himself. His frustration with himself loops in on itself because he knows, as usual, that’s he’s being his own worst enemy, simply by not believing in himself. He finally looks up at Ace, silent for much longer than usual, his eyes dark and determined, his words sounding like a threat. “I would never leave you hanging.”

Ace feels his pulse jump at the intensity in Deuce’s eyes when their gazes finally meet again and he can’t help flustering a little himself this time. “I wouldn’t either… I really _am_ serious about agreeing to study with you too, but...” Ace lifts a hand to scratch awkwardly at the back of his head -

_o/~ Put my mind at ease  
Pretty please  
I need your hands on me  
Sweet relief  
Pretty please ~/o_

\- and he’s really not expecting it when Deuce catches his wrist, suddenly rolling and flipping them with a soft little growl, settling himself firmly between Ace’s legs. “But I need to put your mind at ease first,” he breathes into Ace’s ear, enjoying the shiver he gets in response as he pins both of the other boy’s wrists beside his head. “Same as you did for me.” He may not know exactly what he’s doing, but he’s damn determined to both crack Ace’s bravado and give as good as he’s just gotten.

Ace’s fingers twitch reflexively, but he doesn’t fight Deuce’s hold, instead arching himself up against the other boy in a slow roll. “I… need your hands on me,” Ace finally admits softly. It’s a simple statement, but it’s also really a confession of how he’s been feeling constantly, all the time, though he doesn’t know if Deuce will realize that.

“My hands?” Deuce teases, squeezing Ace’s wrists as he leans in to press kisses along Ace’s neck until he can feel the rapid flutter of Ace’s pulse under his lips. “Or my mouth?” Deuce traces the flush of Ace’s skin with his tongue until he finds the bruise on Ace’s collarbone that’s been almost as constant a mark lately as the heart around his eye. It’s faded out in the week since they last made out and he clearly ought to do something about that.

“Either. Both. Yes,” Ace gasps out in quick succession before his voice melts into a breathy moan as Deuce renews his mark, flooding Ace’s body with simultaneous pain and pleasure.

Deuce frees Ace’s wrists so he can run a hand down his chest instead, slowly and purposefully undoing the rest of his shirt buttons. “Is that a yes, Deuce, please suck me off?” He tries to sounds more confident that he is, pressing another light kiss to the rapidly darkening mark. He needs to hear Ace say that he wants this, because he’s not sure he’s going to have the balls to do it otherwise.

Ace can’t quite believe he’s hearing words that lewd coming out of Deuce’s mouth so easily and he splutters a little in response, catching Deuce by the shoulders now that his hands are free again. “Deuce, I...” Why is it so hard for him to answer that question with a simple yes, especially after he’s already done the same? It would probably give away less than what actually ends up spilling out of his mouth as Deuce’s fingertips trail teasingly down his bare stomach. “I wanna know what it feels like...” Implying, of course, that he doesn’t, that he hasn’t – that he’s flying by the seat of his pants as usual.

That confession shoots through Deuce like a sizzle of lightning and he swears if he hadn’t just come, he’d already be hard again. Ace had done _that_ to him, had made him feel so good, and... had never even done it before? Wanted to do it, with Deuce, for the first time? Deuce suddenly realizes his thoughts have frozen him and jerks back into motion, hastily unbuttoning Ace’s pants. “Yeah, alright,” he murmurs, shifting so he can press kisses down Ace’s stomach, trying to calm his racing heart and all of the feelings he doesn’t have names for yet. “You felt so good....”

“Did I?” Ace murmurs hoarsely, his hands slipping from Deuce’s shoulders as he shifts, one sliding into the back of his hair, fingers weaving through the dark strands. “I...” he breaths out, almost a laugh, and then he smiles – a little crooked, a touch nervous, and entirely genuine. “I wanted you to chill the fuck out, honestly. I wanted… I wanted to see you stop worrying so much, just for a little while.”

Deuce finally glances back up at Ace’s face and can’t help the way his heart seizes up at the fond look he finds there. He grins a little in response, pressing a teasing kiss against the line of Ace’s hardness through the last remaining barrier of his underwear. “Told you that you’d keep me from overthinking things.” And he doesn’t, tugging Ace’s cock out so he can run his tongue up one side, watching Ace’s reaction intently.

Ace shudders, his hand tightening in Deuce’s hair with the effort it takes to keep his eyes open and focused on the sight of Deuce licking a wet stripe up his cock. “Mm, then this is definitely my just rewards...” he breathes back, knowing they’re both thinking of their earlier conversation, and though he wants to come off cool, his voice cracking on the last word totally ruins the effect.

“Absolutely,” Deuce hums in agreement, turning his full focus to the task at hand, armed with his own experience under Ace’s hands to guide him. He doesn’t give himself the time to think twice about it before wrapping his lips around the tip, tongue swirling around the head in a way that makes Ace’s hand fist even more tightly in his hair. The whiny little noises he wrings out of Ace when he starts to suck in earnest leave him light-headed and craving more, and Deuce realizes with a heady little thrill that he’s absolutely going to savor every moment of making Ace completely fall apart underneath him.

Despite how much time he’s spent daydreaming about this, Ace finds himself woefully unprepared for the overwhelming reality of Deuce’s hot, wet mouth wrapped around him. “Deuce!” he chokes out, his eyes rolling back in his head from sheer pleasure, arching off the bed, hips pushing up to beg for more even as Deuce takes him deeper, obliterating any coherent thoughts remaining.

The sudden movement nearly chokes him and Deuce shifts one strong hand to pin Ace’s hips to the bed, humming a satisfied noise at the whine of protest that comes from Ace once he’s restrained again. Deuce would smirk smugly at finally having the upper hand, but Ace’s cock is too far down his throat and he’s greedy to see what other sounds he can drag out of Ace. He doesn’t know if he’s supposed to be enjoying this side of things quite so much, but watching Ace slowly lose his cool is _so_ gratifying.

Any inclination Ace had about being in control of the situation is far, far gone, and to his genuine surprise… he likes it. No, he more than likes it – moaning and gasping desperately underneath Deuce, Ace is about to completely get off on it. He’s been pushing Deuce’s buttons all day (all week), but now that he’s completely at the other boy’s mercy, he realizes _why_. This side of Deuce that he always has to goad out of him – this confidence, this stubborn determination, this rough edge that Deuce tries so hard to hide all the time?

Ace _wants_ it. _All_ of it.

Deuce’s hand finally wraps around Ace’s cock, squeezing, _insisting_ , and Ace crashes over the edge with a broken, choked-up sound, his mind whiting out into euphoric static.

By the time he’s found his senses again, Deuce has crawled back up the bed to collapse half on top of him, and when they kiss, they taste of each other. Ace rolls a little until they’re nose to nose and they stay like that, kissing in a soft and lazy manner, hands in each other’s hair, until both their heart rates slow.

Deuce finally rolls away completely, and once they’ve shuffled their clothing back into place, he reaches to grab the two sodas off the desk. They’re only kinda cold by now, but they crack them open anyway, giving each other funny little half smiles over the tops of them.

True to his word, Ace does finally let them get some studying done, but only once Deuce agrees to sit side by side against the headboard of the bed instead of at the desk. They manage to make it through about a subject and a half before Deuce dozes off on Ace’s shoulder exactly as he complained that he was probably going to, and even though it means they might be late to dinner, Ace finds no reason not to join him.

After all, they can always study more tomorrow, right?

Maybe he’ll even ask Grim about that Octavinelle study guide.


	4. Traveling by Train

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between 4-12 and 4-38.
> 
> [Playlist Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RgBHJisE7Y&list=PL1_0InctjP7wWTQzZ9ABcWg6xOnuAyhq9)
> 
> Come follow us on Twitter @kitarinastala and @ekala71 if you also love Ace & Deuce~!

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

_o/~ It's all so new – It's all so insecure  
We're charging through just like we knew for sure  
Which way to turn, and what's in store ~/o_

Ace has read the entire string of messages at least a dozen times, but he can’t find any answers in it.

It’s impossible to tell in text whether or not Deuce is mad at him – whether anything’s wrong between them – whether they’re still… well, whatever it is that they are that neither of them has given any kind of name to yet. Still, even if he can’t quite put his finger on it, something’s been off between them since the whole Octavinelle incident.

Honestly, as much as he’s genuinely worried about their Ramshackle friends yet again, Ace is also grateful for the excuse to see Deuce face-to-face before they actually head back to Night Raven College in a few weeks. Maybe he’ll be able to figure out why Deuce had seemingly avoided being caught alone with him for the entire last week of school before break, so much so that they hadn’t even had a few minutes for a kiss goodbye.

Okay, to be fair, maybe he’d been avoiding the same thing a little bit himself, but whether or not it was for the same _reasons_ was key in knowing how to proceed.

Ace’s stomach turns over uncomfortably with that last thought and he shoves it away, glancing up from his phone.

It’s not a long trip from his stop to the main hub where he’s meeting Deuce to catch the overnight train back to school and the scenery whips by outside, the drab grey and brown and evergreen of a December that hasn’t seen any snow yet. There’s only a couple stops to go, he double-checks as the train pulls into the next station and people shuffle off and on, and Ace thumbs his messages over to a different thread.

Ace’s cheeks flush as he re-reads the last bit and he finally jams his phone into his pocket, closing his eyes and focusing on the rhythmic sway of the train.

Not once in his conversation had he mentioned a single word about Deuce until that slip of _we_ and yet Cater had the nerve to assume…

_Correctly._

...that they were going together.

It _i_ _s_ a long time to spend alone with someone, and Ace wonders if maybe he should feel more nervous or uncertain about it, but…he can’t help but look forward to seeing Deuce. Even if it’s only been a few days, he’d be lying if he didn’t admit to missing him a little, and he’s hoping Deuce feels the same way.

He’s also hoping their mutual secret-keeping hasn’t permanently condemned the idea of being something _more_ than just friends… or being friends at all.

Maybe the time alone is exactly what they need to clear the air between them… if they don’t just end up spending it all over each other instead.

In their shared sleeping cabin.

Ace’s thoughts jam to a halt as the train pulls into the station and he’s wedged into the majority of people departing from it. The crowd thins as it disperses in different directions and Ace double-checks the station map before re-adjusting his messenger bag and heading towards the location of their meeting point.

He’s pretty close to on-time, late by around two minutes, but it occurs to him as he scans the crowd around the gate that since they’re in a public train station, Deuce is unlikely to be wearing his school uniform. And yeah, they’ve seen each other in robes and sports clothes and pjs and nothing at all, but… they’ve never seen each other outside of school before.

The thrill of it makes Ace’s pulse jump, and, as if in response, the crowd shifts and parts to reveal Deuce heading his way. He’s also carrying a similar cross-body bag over a worn black leather jacket, his hands jammed into the pockets. His dark jeans are tucked into black combat boots and as he moves, Ace can tell there’s a navy turtleneck underneath the layer of gray scarf wound around his neck. Ace can’t help the smile playing on his lips at the mere sight of him, but something about Deuce seems different and the expression freezes in place as the other boy gets close enough to Ace for him to realize why.

There is no dark spade painted around Deuce’s right eye and Ace can’t make sense of why that feels like a fucking sucker punch, but it _d_ _oes_.

It shouldn’t – there’s no rule about having to wear their card suits outside of school – but Ace finds his to be a mark of both personality and pride, and he isn’t afraid of anyone seeing him wear something so unusual and vibrant, even in the middle of a crowded train station, even it it would make it obvious that they’re… together in some way.

Lifting one hand in a casual wave, he greets Deuce with the same smile still frozen on his face. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Deuce stops two feet short of Ace, his stomach dropping onto his toes as he realizes he’s made yet another grave error in judgment. He seems to be making a lot of those lately.

Ace is wearing a black winter jacket over faded blue jeans, the red of his sneakers matched perfectly to both the shade of his scarf and the heart worn around his left eye. The smile on his face doesn’t really reach his eyes though and Deuce panics internally, suddenly feeling naked without his own mark, cursing himself for not even thinking to put it on. Clearly, Ace has no problem wearing his with street clothes, but Deuce feels far too awkward to just suddenly whip his pen out here in the middle of the train station.

On top of that blunder, Deuce still can’t figure out whether Ace is mad at him or it’s simply his own guilty conscience devouring him from the inside out. Maybe Ace didn’t really want him along on this trip because he doesn’t trust Deuce anymore, and as crushing a thought as that is, Deuce can hardly blame him.

The awkward moment of silence is interrupted by the announcement that boarding has begun and Ace nods towards the waiting train, his expression finally returning to a more amiable neutral. “Shall we?”

It’s rather strange to be in the world outside Night Raven College while together and Deuce keeps sneaking disbelieving glances at Ace as they shuffle their way onto the train and walk through it to find their assigned cabin. When they finally reach it, Deuce pushes open the door and his earlier dismay only increases. “Oh. I. There were supposed to be two beds,” he stammers as Ace elbows him further into the tiny room so he can close the door behind them. “I can go see about getting it changed-”

“Why?” There’s hardly enough room to stand side by side at the foot of the sole bed in the compartment and Ace lifts an eyebrow, unable to keep from tormenting Deuce in his continued awkwardness. “You suddenly scared to share a bed with me?”

Deuce's internal worry grinds to a halt and he stares at Ace for just a beat too long before responding. "...no, I, it's fine!" He can't help but smile, just a little bit – maybe he hasn't messed this up too badly after all, if Ace is still making jokes like that. "Give me a minute and we can go check out the rest of the train," he says, dropping his bag on the bed and slipping into the tiny cubicle of a bathroom.

Ace pulls his bag off and shoves it into one of the cubbies above the bed, then decides to ditch his jacket and scarf too, as the train is a comfortable temperature. He feels a little relieved by Deuce’s perfectly regular response to his teasing and he flops down onto the bed, pillowing his head in his hands, feet still hanging off the end. Maybe he hasn’t messed things up too badly between them.

The train starts to move as the bathroom door opens again.

Ace sits up, and though he ought to have expected it, he’s not prepared for the sharp little grin on Deuce’s face that accompanies the return of his missing mark. The black spade makes Deuce’s bright eyes seem even more vivid and Ace feels himself flush with sudden heat under his gaze, wondering if Deuce had caught onto the fact that the missing mark was bothering him. “You _forgot_ , didn’t you?” he deflects from his own reaction in a low voice, lips curling into a mirrored grin.

Deuce feels a little thrill at the blush making its way across Ace's face even as he teases him for forgetting. He's _missed_ this, he realizes abruptly. He’s missed their banter and Ace’s presence and - "Maybe," he shoots back, reaching for Ace's wrist to tug him up and towards the door leading into the narrow hallway. "C'mon, let's see if they've got anything decent to eat."

Deuce’s hand is warm around his wrist as Ace allows himself to be pulled out of their compartment and he’s a little sorry when Deuce lets go once they lock the door behind them.

The train is fairly crowded due to the approaching holidays, as many people are traveling long distances to visit family, but since it’s fairly early for lunch, the dining car nearest to them isn’t very busy yet. They grab a little booth next to a window and order some sodas while perusing the menu and watching as the train clears the edges of the city and the buildings begin to thin out.

They end up ordering a pair of inexpensive bentos, something to nibble at in between playing a few rounds of various card games to pass the time. They start with Rummy, since there’s only the two of them, and Ace outright refuses to play War or Go Fish, and then follow it up with Speed, which both of them are wicked fast at after competing in the dorm lounge all semester. But it’s a particularly slap-tastic and rowdy round of Egyptian Rat Screw that finally gets them ousted from the dining car and both of them have red and stinging knuckles as they laugh and trip their way back to their cabin.

Ace offers to put some music on before either of them have the chance to consider an actual conversation, but whether that’s the best or worst idea is up for debate. They settle against the wall, sitting on the bed side-by-side and Ace gives one half of his headphones to Deuce as he pulls up his latest mix. Deuce dozes off on his shoulder within half a dozen songs and hardly able to sleep the previous night from anticipation, Ace isn’t far behind.

It’s dark when one of the train’s very few stops rouses them both and they manage to charm their way back into the dining car for a rather late dinner by promising they’re only there to eat. In the middle of stuffing their faces with omurice and cherry pie, Ace finally gets a message back from Cater, who’s delivering a message from Riddle, who’s called and texted Azul and also gotten no answer.

This isn’t what either of them were hoping to hear, but it seems their decision to head back to school might be warranted after all.

Cater’s message finally breaks the ice on talking about everything they’ve been avoiding all day, starting with the strange messages about Scarabia and leading into their mutual concern that this could end up becoming another Overblot situation without Crowley or the teachers or even the dorm heads there to mitigate it.

When they finally retire to their cabin for the evening, it’s after midnight and both of them are feeling wound up and edgy about what awaits them tomorrow.

_o/~ Sometimes it hurts – sometimes you lose your way  
Sometimes the words will run right off your page  
Just take a breath, we'll be ok ~/o_

At least, that’s all Ace thinks the tension between them is until they’re sitting on the bed in pjs and Deuce asks him a dreaded question.

“Ace… can I talk to you about something?”

Ace’s heart jumps into his throat as his mind races with all the possibilities in that question. It could be as simple as something related to their current discussion about the series of overblots they’ve witnessed, but it could be something... far more dangerous. Is Deuce finally going to tell him off for the entire Octavinelle incident that had spawned out of Ace ruining too many of their study sessions? Or worse, is this finally going to be the “let’s just be friends” speech?

But when Ace meets Deuce’s eyes, he doesn’t see any animosity there – only nerves – and there’s no way he can say no, even as his stomach churns. He _wants_ to know what’s on Deuce’s mind, even if it’s just to get over the anxiety that comes with an unknown. Ace shifts until they’re sitting cross-legged, knee to knee, in the middle of the bed, entirely serious for once. “Sure.”

Deuce is not at all used to Ace not deflecting or turning almost everything into a joke, so it takes a moment to register that he’s actually gotten an entirely clear and straight-forward answer. Worry wars with his conviction. He could let the whole incident go, as everything _seems_ okay between them, but… that means nothing will change. It means this might happen again. And Deuce really can’t stand the idea of a never-ending guilty conscience or dishonesty with someone he really wants to be trusted by.

Clasping his hands in front of him, his head drops a little as the words finally tumble out in a rush. “Ace. Ace, I’m so incredibly sorry for the whole Octavinelle incident. I’m sorry that I went to Octavinelle because I didn’t have enough faith in myself to succeed. I’m sorry that my worry and my fear and my inability to study on my own dragged you down and screwed you up too. And I’m most sorry that I lied to you about it and didn’t tell you what I’d done until we were all found out.”

Deuce heaves an enormous breath of relief, finally daring to look up again, startled to find Ace’s eyes glassy and his expression stricken. “Oh no. Nonono, what did I-”

“Shut up, Deuce,” Ace mutters, rubbing at one eye with the back of his hand as he averts his gaze. “Don’t you think it’s _me_ that owes _you_ an apology? If I’d just let you study properly, instead of...” Ace waves one hand vaguely in the air, his cheeks coloring sharply, “Then you wouldn’t have felt the need to go and do something so stupid. And I wouldn’t have psyched myself out at the same time and been blinded by such a fucking obvious scheme.”

“We both fell for it,” Deuce dares to interrupt him, but his words trail off when Ace reaches out to place a hand on his knee.

“Let me finish,” Ace shakes his head a little, meeting Deuce’s eyes again. “Because I… I’m sorry I lied to you too, even if I thought at the time that it was harmless. You… you really did make me feel like I ought to care more… but I didn’t want you rubbing it in my face that you were right – That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“And I didn’t tell you,” Deuce counters, reaching out to place his hand on Ace’s opposite knee, “Because I didn’t want you to feel guilty about what we were doing instead. I _wanted_ to do that with you and I don’t want you to doubt that… but I was also afraid you’d mock me for my anxiety over exams if you knew I’d made a deal.”

Ace is quiet for awhile, considering his words. He knows how much and how often he teases Deuce, punches his buttons, pokes at his insecurities, but… anytime it’s really mattered, they’ve always had each other’s backs. “I might enjoy teasing you too often,” he starts carefully, “But… when it really comes down to it? I wouldn’t judge you like that. I _didn’t_ judge you for it, even when I was teasing you-”

“I know, I-”

“Deuce.” Ace’s voice feels tight in his throat as his free hand moves to cover Deuce’s where it rests on his knee, curling around it. Swallowing hard against the lump, he squeezes Deuce’s hand tightly with the courage it takes to put even this little bit of his heart out in the open. “I wanna be someone you can talk to, Deuce – about anything.”

Ace’s words run Deuce through like an arrow straight to the heart. He’s moving before he even has time to consider what he’s doing, cupping Ace’s face between both his hands and crashing their lips together in an impulsive and heartfelt kiss. Ace kisses him back with equal certainty, his hands rising to curl around Deuce’s wrists, but then Deuce pulls back, but only far enough that they can meet eyes again. “I want you to be able to talk to me, too, Ace – I want...” Deuce trails off, his cheeks pinking slightly as he mumbles the last few words. “...want us to trust each other.”

Pushing past Deuce’s hold with a soft little laugh, Ace presses the lightest kiss to the tip of his nose. “I think we already do.”

Deuce doesn’t think he’s ever seen an expression so soft on Ace’s face. “Y-yeah, we do,” he stammers his reply, because it’s the truth. He does trust Ace, and that affirmation after weeks of guilt and worry lifts so much weight off his shoulders that he feels simultaneously exhausted and light as a feather. Apparently, he’s not the only one, because Ace leans into him after those words, burying his face against Deuce’s shoulder with a great heaving sigh. “...maybe we should try to get some sleep?”

Part of Ace’s face-burying is definitely to hide his own embarrassment over the situation, but when Deuce’s arms wind around him, hands spreading comfortably across his back, it’s also a sweet relief. All of the tension he’s been holding onto so tightly melts under Deuce’s touch and Ace agrees with the assessment by yawning as he finally pulls back. “It _is_ pretty late.”

It’s a strange thing to turn down the bed together and climb into it with no worry and no fear. There’s no one else here to see them or catch them or interrupt them and the only alarm hanging over their heads is the train’s arrival at their destination around noon.

Ace reaches to flip the lights off and then flops down on his pillow, but he isn’t much for sleeping on his back, so he rolls onto his side fairly quickly, trying to get used to the idea of sleeping through the noise and constant movement of the train. Deuce rolls a few minutes later and for a little while, they’re back to back, with Ace expecting to hear the telltale deep breathing that signifies that the other boy has drifted off. Usually, it’s Deuce who falls asleep more easily, but Ace thinks he might beat him there tonight.

Instead, after a few minutes, Deuce shifts a leg. Then an arm. After another few minutes, he rolls onto his back, jostling Ace a little in their close quarters. Another few minutes pass, just enough for Ace to start to drift off once more, and then Deuce shifts yet again, rolling so that he’s now spooning Ace from behind.

Ace waits until Deuce finally creeps a hand onto his hip before he mutters, soft and playful, “What, you can’t sleep without the delightful snoring of our roommates?”

Deuce’s fingertips press into Ace’s hip as his grip tightens and it’s a long moment with only the clickity-clack of the train before he mumbles a reply, his breath tickling the back of Ace’s neck. “Can’t sleep because I can’t stop thinking about kissing you.”

Ace shivers as Deuce punctuates those words by pressing his lips to the curve where Ace’s neck meets his shoulder. “Oh?” Ace murmurs. “Once wasn’t enough to satisfy you?” His words are sassy, but his tone is low and breathy, a dead giveaway that Deuce is turning him on.

“I don’t think even a hundred could satisfy me,” Deuce admits – perhaps _too_ honestly, when he hears Ace’s soft little laugh in answer. Letting his hand slip off Ace’s hip to spread across his stomach instead, Deuce pulls the other boy back flush against him as he shifts his hips forward.

Ace feels the hard length of Deuce’s cock press up against his ass and the noise that escapes him as Deuce marks his neck is definitely a whine. “Hnnggh…..” He grinds back against Deuce as he answers, “...won’t know unless we try.”

With no further warning, Ace rolls, elbowing Deuce into shifting back, both of them shuffling inelegantly until they’re face to face, tangling their legs under the blanket. Deuce slides a hand around the back of Ace’s neck to angle their faces together, but they still bump noses as they find each other’s lips in the dark.

It’s been days – no, _weeks_ , really – since they’ve kissed properly, and it consumes them both immediately and entirely.

Ace buries a hand in Deuce’s hair as Deuce’s tongue demands entrance to his mouth and he gives it gladly, deepening the kiss with the first taste they’ve had of each other in what feels like forever. Deuce groans and Ace swallows the sound down, answering back with another noise of his own as they both forget about the need to breathe.

The walls on the train are thin, as they’ve heard the murmurs of voices passing by and various creaks and clunks from other nearby cabins, and the last thing either of them wants is to wake up an entire train of sleeping passengers with their coupling. They both resolve wordlessly to muffle the possibility of being loud by continuing to kiss even as their hands start to wander, drifting under shirts, nails dragging against bare skin and fingertips teasing nipples into hard peaks.

Deuce almost deludes himself into worrying that he’s rushing this too quickly until Ace snags his wrist and leads Deuce’s hand straight towards his equally hard arousal.

No, this is definitely going as fast as it is because they’ve _both_ been tortured by how long it’s been since they last had their hands on each other. Deuce grinds the heel of his hand against Ace’s cock and can’t help but grin into their kiss as he drinks up another one of Ace’s delicious little moans as his prize.

Never one to be outdone, Ace’s fingers are already creeping under the waistband of Deuce’s pjs, and their kiss finally breaks for a moment, their breathing shallow and uneven against each other’s lips as they fumble towards what they both want.

“Ace...” Deuce hisses the s sound in the other boy’s name with a shuddery exhale as Ace’s fingers curl around his cock.

Ace gives an answering hiss of Deuce’s name, a perfect mirror as Deuce takes his cock in hand. “Deuce...”

Their already raw knuckles collide as they stroke each other – too fast, too slow – until they find their rhythm, enjoying the absolute rush of being together again in this way even while knowing their mutual impatience means this won’t last very long at all.

Faster and faster they push their fevered tempo, stealing tiny breathy kisses from each other’s swollen lips until Ace moans a little too loudly, and Deuce seals their mouths together again just before they send each other tumbling over the edge.

Ace has always enjoyed the physical release of coming, but he finds himself startled by the emotional relief that floods him as they shake and shudder against each other in mutual pleasure. Although he hadn’t let himself dwell on it too much, he knows at least part of him had been deeply upset at the idea that they might not ever share this again and he’s all too happy to let that stress finally drain away in the afterglow.

Deuce can’t quite make out Ace’s expression in the dark, but he wonders if maybe that’s for the best, as there’s also no need to feel self-conscious about the feelings he suspects are written across his own face as he comes down from the high. There’s also nothing awkward about wiggling out of their shirts and using them to mop up the mess between them with soft little blissed out snickers before dumping them off the end of the bed.

Rolling onto his back this time, Deuce throws out an arm and Ace accepts the invitation, resting his head on Deuce’s shoulder and tossing an easy arm over his waist. Their legs tangle under the blankets again as Deuce’s arm comes up around Ace, ruffling his hair with a yawn. “Think we’re both gonna sleep a lot better now,” he whispers into Ace’s hair.

Ace can feel Deuce’s heartbeat under his ear, as rhythmic as the sound of the train, but far more comforting, and he’s a breath away from passing out as he mumbles into Deuce’s skin. “M’really glad you’re here with me.”

Deuce smiles into the darkness, not far from sleep himself. “There’s no way I would have let you go alone.”

_o/~ No I never said it was easy  
And I never told you you'd know which way to go  
But now that you're here I can promise you  
Wherever you're going, you'll never go alone ~/o_


	5. Higher than the Blue in the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during 4-38.
> 
> [Playlist Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RgBHJisE7Y&list=PL1_0InctjP7wWTQzZ9ABcWg6xOnuAyhq9)

_o/~ Hard times never ever have been easy  
Sometimes all you gotta do is fight  
Take time 'cause I don't want you to leave me  
Make time 'cause I want you in my life ~/o_

Deuce wakes almost as early as he usually does, but as he recollects where he is and who he has wrapped up in his arms, he’s even more grateful for the habit than usual. Ace is still asleep, his face half-tucked into Deuce’s shoulder, and Deuce doesn’t dare to move at all while taking in the fan of coppery eyelashes against Ace’s cheek and the uncommonly soft and relaxed expression on the other boy’s face.

The last week of school had been rather chaotic, and it’d been easier to pretend things were just fine, but the moment he’d returned home for winter break, the actual distance between them had knocked Deuce over the head as painfully hard as one of his cauldrons. For two days, all he’d done was pull his phone out his pocket every hour to check for a message from Ace, lamenting when none came. He’d wanted to reach out, but had no idea where to begin.

Despite the uncertainty laying ahead of them today, their friend’s strange messages had given him – both of them really – the excuse they needed to connect again. It had also forced him to own up to the fact that he’d been missing Ace since before they’d even left school… and that he really liked spending time with Ace, being close to Ace, kissing Ace -

Ace stirs in Deuce’s arms and derails his train of thought, and Deuce can’t help but give in to impulse, shifting just enough to press his lips against Ace’s temple. “It’s still early,” he whispers.

“Mm...” Ace mumbles back, not yet awake enough to be awkward about the tenderness of Deuce’s intimate gesture. Instead, his lips curve into a smile Deuce can feel more than see before he yawns and drags the blanket more tightly around them. “Then come back t’sleep wit’me...”

That adorably sleepy demand is too hard to ignore and Deuce closes his eyes, running his fingers repeatedly through Ace’s fluffy, messy hair, thinking maybe he will doze a little bit more...

And then his alarm ends up jarring them both awake with barely enough time to shower and hurry into their somewhat wrinkled school uniforms before the train pulls into the station, both of them glad that their dorm head isn’t there to frown at them over their general level of disarray.

“So, where to?” Deuce asks as they stand on the platform, people rushing past them who obviously already know where they’re heading.

“Well...” Ace starts thoughtfully, walking towards the exit into the heart of the station while glancing around for a map of the place. “There’s a mirror here _somewhere_.”

“...somewhere?” Deuce falls into step beside him, suddenly wary. “You do know where we’re going, right?”

“Sorta,” Ace shrugs, tossing him an unapologetic grin. “Mostly.”

“What does _that_ mean?!” Deuce retorts, falling into their usual banter with ease.

“It means I know there’s one here that the public uses for events like the Magift Tournament, but I haven’t been through it since I was a kid here to see my brother,” Ace explains, finally spotting a map now that they’re reached an atrium. The ceiling is much higher here, with many displays listing the arrivals and departures of various trains, and the whole space is an overwhelming crush of people heading in all directions at once.

Deuce turns that thought over for a moment as Ace grabs hold of his jacket sleeve and weaves them through the crowd. Reaching the map, he lets go and Deuce sighs as they study the map to figure out which direction they need to head in. “But the school’s kind of technically closed right now? Will it even be working?”

“I think so?” Ace admits his uncertainty honestly, laughing as he catches Deuce’s skeptical expression. “What, are you really worried we came all this way for nothing?”

“I’m worried we won’t be able to help our friends,” Deuce frowns, but his expression softens as their eyes meet and he realizes that Ace is as worried as he is and simply trying to make light of it in any way he can. “But it’s already not a waste.”

Ace’s lips quirk in a funny little embarrassed expression, and though he doesn’t say anything in return, he can’t quite meet Deuce’s eyes anymore. Instead, he points in the direction they need to head and waits for Deuce to fall into step beside him again.

Of course, Ace’s teasing words come back to bite them a few minutes later when they finally find the correct corridor inside the station with the large gilded mirror at the end of it. There’s no one around at all – no ticket booth, no staff, no guards, nothing – and when Ace steps up to it, his tentative hand only meets smooth glass.

“You’re certain this is the right place?” Deuce queries as he starts to examine the ornate areas around the edges of the mirror. It’s not exactly electronics, but it’s magic tech of some sort, and he’s usually pretty adept with such things. If it’s not being powered by electricity, but by magic, then possibly…

“Yes!” Ace insists in grumpy annoyance. “I definitely recognize it, even if it was a long time ago… aaand there were a lot more people here: lines and taking turns, like at school-” The mirror suddenly flickers to life and Ace jumps, his eyes darting from the now murky glass to Deuce’s smug expression. “How did you-”

“There’s some sort of device in the side that responds to our magical pens,” Deuce grins and reaches out a hand, which now passes easily through the glass, and then he follows it with his head. His voice sounds muffled and tinny coming from the other side of the mirror. “Campus gates.”

Ace follows him through the mirror and they find themselves back at Night Raven College, at the edge of the equally deserted campus, covered with far more snow than when they’d left it. Behind them, the mirror ripples once and returns to ordinary glass again.

The sun is dim in the cloudy sky and the wind rips right through them as they make their way across the familiar grounds as quickly as possible, as much for their worry as for the weather. It definitely feels like a storm could be on the way.

There’s no one at Ramshackle Dorm besides the ghosts, who claim they haven’t seen their friends in days, and so Ace and Deuce hurry onward to the castle and the Hall of Mirrors, ever more tense and alarmed about what’s going on.

 _Something_ is obviously not quite right.

They haven’t seen a single person by the time they cross through the mirror to Scarabia, though, and the desert dorm is also mysteriously empty, despite the fact that the main lounge definitely smells like someone has been cooking or eating something spicy recently.

“Where the hell _is_ everyone?” Ace finally hollers out loud to the empty room, fanning himself with one hand. It’s about a million degrees here, which feels even more intolerable after hiking across the brutally cold campus less than an hour ago.

His voice echoes through the open space as they dump their bags and winter jackets down, wandering around the room, searching for a clue, and finally he crows triumphantly: Pinned to the board is a note in a scrawling handwriting that simply reads:

_At the Oasis!_

“So we need to figure out where that is,” Deuce lifts one fist in determination. “And we’ll find everyone.”

“Have you looked outside?” Ace rolls his eyes with an exasperated noise. “It’s miles and miles of sand in every direction!”

“So?” Deuce shrugs and frowns. “Are you saying we shouldn’t even try?”

“Do you wanna get heatstroke wandering the desert in circles?” Ace can’t help arguing against what seems like a futile idea.

“Do you wanna give up and walk away when we’re this close?” Deuce argues back, hating how much it reminds him of how much they hadn’t gotten along their first night at the school, facing off outside the crystal mine.

“Of course not!” Ace huffs, but the tense moment is shattered by something zipping into the room so fast that it’s a blur on the first loop, startling them both into jumping and clutching at each other.

“Watch out!” Deuce drags Ace down roughly by the arm to duck another loop of the flying monster until it eventually slows down enough to reveal itself as…

“An enormous floating rug?” Ace’s eyes widen as he straightens up and shakes off the adrenaline spike. He’s heard stories about magical objects like this, but they’re incredibly rare and ridiculously expensive.

“Whoa, what is this thing?” Deuce mutters as the rug swirls around their feet like an overly large cat, almost tripping him as he tries to avoid it. “H-hey, knock it off.”

“No, wait,” Ace holds out one hand to stop Deuce and then reaches the other towards the magical… creature? “Maybe it knows the way to the Oasis.”

Deuce’s deadpan stare could not be drier. “Ace, it’s a _carpet_.”

“A _magic_ carpet,” Ace insists with a petulant pout before turning back to the carpet, taking a small step towards it with a still outstretched hand. “Right, boy? You know the way to the Oasis, don’t you?”

In response, the carpet swirls around them once more before twirling up into the air and then flattening out, one end curling into what clearly resembles a set of two stairs.

“You can’t be serious,” Deuce gapes at the carpet as Ace cackles gleefully.

“Do you have a better idea?” Ace retorts, darting up the stairs and attempting not to wobble with the strange surface under his feet. Turning back, he holds out a hand to Deuce with sparkling eyes and a sly little grin. “Come on, don’t you _trust_ me?”

Deuce hears his own words on the train echoing in his head – _I want us to trust each other –_ and Ace’s answer _– I think we already do –_ and all he can do is have faith in them. Reaching out, he takes hold of Ace’s hand as he climbs the stairs.

Ace pulls Deuce towards him and the magic carpet ripples in excitement, knocking them both on their asses as it takes off around the room again.

It’s a little bit terrifying at first, but Ace can’t help but laugh in exhilaration as they try to untangle themselves from the pile they’ve landed in as the carpets loops the room again and again. “I have no idea how to get it to listen to us!”

“Obviously,” Deuce can’t help laughing too, but if he doesn’t get this circular motion to stop soon, his stomach is warning him that it won’t be pretty. Managing to scramble to his hands and knees, he peers over the edge of the carpet with a grin. He’s always loved traveling fast – running, flying on a broom, riding a magic wheel – and this isn’t really that different. In fact, that last comparison sparks an idea and he reaches out to grasp at the tassels on the edge of the rug.

Ace finally sits up as the carpet slows to a more reasonable speed, shuffling around until he’s seated comfortably beside Deuce, marveling both at the view and the success they’ve achieved together. “Not bad at all,” he offers a rare and genuine compliment as he elbows Deuce.

Deuce practically beams in response and with one swift tug, he directs the carpet out of the lounge and up over the dorm to widen their view. The sun is scorching in the vast expanse of cloudless cerulean sky, but the wind from flying eases the heat as they rise up over the fountain in the center of Scarabia.

“Give us a nudge towards the Oasis?” Ace asks, patting the carpet gently in between where Deuce has a hold of the tassels.

The rug ripples again underneath them and then takes off in a deliberate direction, racing across the golden dunes of the desert. It isn’t long before they catch sight of a river winding across the land and decide to follow it until they spot palm trees rising up in the distance. As they get closer, it’s possible to make out Scarabia dorm uniforms and…

“Is that… an elephant?” Ace asks incredulously as he and Deuce exchange equally curious and confused glances, followed by similar yelps of surprise as the carpet suddenly drops in altitude. Rather than escorting them all the way there, it settles down on the outskirts of the oasis and waits for them to disembark, and once they do, it darts behind a tree, hiding as if it’s worried about being spotted.

Without the wind from flying, it’s immediately sweltering again, but they’re so close to figuring out what’s going on and the water of the oasis glistens like a mirage before them.

“Let’s go – I think I see Grim!” Deuce brushes a hand lightly against Ace’s shoulder before taking off at a run, Ace on his heels as they both yell out a greeting.

“HEEEEYYYYY!!!! PREFECT!! GRIM!!”  
  
“Are you guys alive?!”

Grim darts out in front of the group of students with a startled expression, ears twitching and tail swishing. “Ace and Deuce?!”

Sand scatters into the air as the boys skid to a stop and upon realizing their friends seem perfectly fine, Ace huffs out an immediate complaint, “...why is it so freaking hot here?! It’s like the middle of summer!”

Pushing through the crowd of students, Yuu gapes at his friends in touched surprise. “Why are you two...” Glancing from one wheezing boy to the other, he bites back a laugh. “Thought you went home for winter break!”

Ace straightens up, hands on his hips and eyes narrowed at the teasing he can tell is on the tip of Yuu’s tongue. “What d’you mean, _why_?! I’m the one who should be asking why.”

Deuce shakes his head a little, wondering if they really had gotten the wrong idea somehow. “But we got a message like _We’re trapped in Scarabia!_ and then we couldn’t get any messages or calls through...”

“Ah...” Grim starts thoughtfully. “I guess we did send you guys a text.” Always entirely too honest, he continues dismissively, “I didn’t think you’d be much help, but to think you really showed up _after_ everything was over.”

“Whaaat?!” Ace exclaims incredulously at Grim’s typical impertinence, thinking of all the trouble they’d gone through to get here and find them. “You know that without the Mirror open, we couldn’t just use magic to warp back, right?” At Grim’s unimpressed visage, he feels compelled to continue his explanation. “We had to take public transportation all the way back to school!”

Deuce crosses his arms over his chest, ignoring the squabbling pair and turning towards Yuu with a relieved little sigh instead. “I don’t really understand… but you look like you’re having fun and you’re not in any trouble, at any rate.”

“What this?” Kalim weaves his way through the students until he reaches Yuu’s side to get a look at the newcomers. “Some of your friends?”

The circle widens as more people join it, and Floyd lifts a hand in greeting, a wide smile splitting his face when he realizes who’s joined them. “Ah, it’s Crabby! Did’ya come to play?”

“Crab..?” Deuce murmurs, his eyes flickering over to Ace.

“Ah...” Ace lifts a resigned hand to the back of his head as he notes the additional faces, clueing Deuce in. “Floyd’s in the basketball club with me,” he nods towards the tall one who’d just spoken, and then to the second boy now standing at Kalim’s elbow. “...along with Jamil from Scarabia.”

“Oooh~! I see, I see!” Kalim beams at them cheerfully, arms crossed in a relaxed and easy stance. More guests for the party would only make it merrier. “Jamil’s friends are my friends!”

“Oi!” Jamil snaps sharply. “How many times do I have to tell you that I have no intention of...” His words trail off into a sigh and a mutter as Kalim darts forward again, clearly ignoring him. “...he’s not listening...”

“Since you came all the way here, please feel free to join in with our dorm’s holiday party!” Kalim enthuses, always thrilled to see circles of friends becoming more interwoven.

“We’ve got pizza and pasta over here!” Azul’s voice calls out easily over the crowd from where he and Jade are supervising the set-up of several tables full of food and beverages.

“What would you like to drink?” Jade adds, the perfect smile on his face not the slightest bit affected by the blatantly stunned horror on the newcomers’ faces.

“Gyah!” Ace jerks back in surprise at the sight of the other dorm head. “It’s the Octavinelle guys!”

Flashbacks of anemones haunt Deuce as his eyes widen, words spilling out unchecked. “Why are you guys hanging out with _them_?”

Grim pushes between the two Heartslabyul students to defend his new friends from the insults of the noisy two, “We went through a lot of shit while you two were gone!” Swishing past them and then turning back, he puffs up with pride as he continues. “Take a seat and I will regale you with the Great Grim’s tales of bravery!”

“What’s that now...” Ace’s expression finally lifts into a smile as he realizes they aren’t being played for fools: Something _did_ indeed happen, even if it’s already over and everyone’s fine, and they’re about to get the full story. “Well, I’m just glad you’re alright,” he nods at Yuu as they follow Grim and Kalim towards the party.

Deuce gives a little laugh of relief as he falls into step with his friends, Yuu sandwiched comfortably between himself and Ace. “Geez… at least it all turned out to be a false alarm this time.”

Glancing back and forth at both boys, neither of which will meet his eyes, Yuu directs his answer straight ahead instead. “...you were worried.” Smiling as he feels them both bristle in the same exact way from either side, he continues sincerely. “Thanks for coming, both of you.”

“Not really...” Embarrassed at being called out, Ace automatically protests the first part with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Nothing to do at home besides play games, so I was bored...”

Deuce picks up immediately where Ace leaves off, a different excuse, but the same shade of denial. “I’m not going to ignore you when I’m the one who told you to text me anytime.”

Still leading the way in front of them and eavesdropping the entire reunion, Grim sasses them both one more time with a verbal eye roll. “You two really aren’t honest, y’know.”

There’s no room for a retort from any of them, though, because Kalim has reached the tables, and jumping up onto a chair beside Azul, he calls out to all of the gathered students. “Okay!! Time to party! Let’s get the food going and the music playing! It’s going to be the best holiday ever!”

A cheer goes up from the entire dorm before everyone begins to split off from the circle around the tables. Some people remain to continue preparing the food, moving in a practiced assembly to retrieve it from the caravan, while others stride off to set up instruments for music and dancing. A third group strips down, jumping into the water in their swimsuits to set up a net for a game of water volleyball.

“Please, drink some water,” Azul saunters around the table to hand them each a bottle with a congenial smile. “The air is quite dry here and you must be parched if you traveled across the desert on foot.”

“Not exactly on foot,” Ace shrugs and grins mischievously, accepting the water for the peace offering that it is. “You said there’s pizza? I’m starving!”

“Is that so?” Azul raises a suspicious eyebrow at the both of them.

“Yeah, we haven’t eaten much today and everything smells great,” Deuce enthuses, completely answering the wrong interpretation of the question as he reaches to grab a plate to fill.

“Only the best of Octavinelle and Scarabia cuisine combined,” Jade promises them, still amused at how neither boy will meet his eyes or give Azul a straight answer. Perhaps the little first years are slowly learning something after all.

With full plates and cold drinks, Ace and Deuce join their friends in a circle on a large blanket spread out over the sand under the shade of two palm trees. Jackets and ties are ditched immediately, sleeves rolled and shoes kicked off, and then they all happily devour their feast while Grim regales them with overly embellished descriptions of the events that have taken place at Scarabia.

Despite Yuu’s pointed corrections and Kalim’s gentle brushing aside of some of the finer details of how he and Jamil had come to this point, it’s still clear by the end of Grim’s story that things at Scarabia would have ended very badly had Octavinelle not gotten themselves involved. Just as they’d come to see Leona & Ruggie in a new light due to their assistance with the anemone debacle, Ace and Deuce find themselves viewing Azul and the twins a little differently now too.

“Ugh, are we finally finished with the tedious rehashing?” Floyd finally dares to interrupt Grim’s final speech about how everyone personally owes him a great debt of gratitude, falling forward bonelessly from his seated position to sprawl across the entire middle of the circle. “Shrimpy promised I could give him some swimming lessons today!”

Kalim immediately jumps to his feet, extending hands to both Ace and Deuce. “Great idea! Let’s all go for a swim and cool off!”

_o/~ My mind has a tendency to wander  
My heart has a temperamental beat  
That's why I've been looking over yonder  
That's why I've been feeling incomplete ~/o_

The blanket quickly becomes an enormous pile of everyone’s clothing and even though half of Scarabia is already in the water and dozens of people are in swimsuits, underwear and various states of undress, Deuce can’t keep his eyes from continually straying towards Ace. Watching nimble fingers swiftly unbutton his shirt to expose skin he can’t help but remember having his hands all over only last night is absolutely making him flush, but thankfully the heat is a decent cover. Stuffing those thoughts down is only made harder when Ace catches him staring, though, giving him a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it little wink just before he shucks his pants off.

Ace laughs softly under his breath when Deuce immediately averts his eyes and almost trips himself getting out of his pants, but the only one paying them any mind is Yuu, who simply smirks at their behavior before Floyd grabs him by the arm to haul him down to the water. Kalim is right behind them, having decided as a “water expert” that Yuu might benefit from more than one teacher.

Azul elects to stand at the edge, only feet in the water, to keep an eye on the food and make certain Grim doesn’t eat himself into illness, but Jade decides to join them, helping Jamil to organize the water volleyball game. Random draws put Ace and Deuce on opposite sides, but since they’re both equally competitive – and really, so is everyone playing – balls are soon being volleyed almost as sharply as the barbs about which team’s going to claim victory.

Off to the side of the net closest to Deuce’s team, two impatient teachers are attempting to show Yuu how to do a back float, and even though he’s trying to keep his eyes on the game, Ace can’t help the occasional distraction at their antics. He’s not the only one, though, because every time Kalim’s laughter rises above the noise of the game, Jamil’s attention is also momentarily diverted. Ace can’t help but take note of it, and though he files away the question of _why_ for later, he takes the opportunity to send the ball in that direction anytime their friends get too rowdy.

The rest of the time, though, he spends aiming at Deuce, if only because watching him move is as rewarding as trying to win. He and Deuce are both pretty athletic, but belonging to different clubs, they don’t often end up in direct competition like this.

Especially not while mostly unclothed.

Ace’s eyes are supposed to be following the ball as it bounces back and forth between all of the players.

But if one of the times that Deuce jumps up to make a particular difficult save causes the sunlight to catch in the sheen of water on his abs, can Ace really be blamed for being instantly sidetracked?

Probably not.

But he definitely has no one but himself to blame when Jamil chooses exactly _that_ moment of weakness to exact his revenge, spiking the ball that’s been beautifully set up by Deuce directly at Ace’s head.

Time seems to enter slow motion for Deuce as Jamil’s hand connects with the ball, his eyes widening in horror as he follows the trajectory, watching it smack an unprepared Ace squarely in the forehead.

The force of it is enough to knock Ace off balance and he flails as crashes sideways, slipping under the surface of the water, ears ringing with the sound of both Deuce and Yuu yelling his name. He considers for a brief second whether or not to simply sink below the surface and never return, lest he face death by mortification from his peers, but alas, he isn’t merfolk like some people here and air is unfortunately necessary.

A hand around his arm steals the decision anyway, hauling him upright, and he breaks the surface with a gasp and a splutter, startled to realize that it’s Jade who has ahold of him.

“Did the Sea Snake crack your shell, Crabby?” Floyd yells towards them with a chortle of laughter that’s quickly echoed by a few of the other boys.

“It’s not my fault he wasn’t paying attention!” Jamil insists loudly in Kalim’s direction.

“You could at least apologize, Jamil!” Kalim complains.

“SHUT UP!”

Everyone jumps a mile as Yuu’s voice somehow rises above the clamor as he splashes his way through the water to Ace’s side, swimming lessons abandoned. “Are you okay, Ace?!”

“...my pride is more wounded than my face...” Ace finally mutters, though he’s pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers and his ears are still ringing. His face is about as red as the messy smear of the heart around his eye.

“Let Azul take a look at you,” Jade suggests, releasing Ace to Yuu’s care. “He most certainly has the best healing spells of anyone here.”

“I-I’m fine,” Ace insists, but Yuu already has him by the wrist, pulling him gently towards the shore.

On the other side of the net, Deuce has gone tense with upset despite most of the focus being on Jamil and Ace, torn between rushing to Ace’s side or just letting him be, since he clearly doesn’t want the attention.

“You should go with them.”

Deuce starts, turning to see that Kalim has splashed up beside him now that his swimming student has departed. “He said he’s fine...” Deuce tries to be casual, but the way Kalim is smiling so brightly at him feels oddly unnerving.

“But you seem worried,” Kalim answers easily with a slight tilt of his head.

If it were possible to splat his own face against the water right now, Deuce thinks he would. “I. Well. We’re friends,” he stammers.

“Exactly!” Kalim beams. “You two seem like as great friends as Jamil and I are!”

“W-What makes you say that?” Deuce’s eyes are still tracking Ace and Yuu as they reach the edge of the oasis where Azul is standing, Grim swirling around their feet.

“Well, you’re always watching each other’s every move!” Kalim states plainly, his eyes following Deuce’s gaze to prove his point.

“I…” Deuce trails off, somehow unable to deny that statement at this precise moment. He wonders if it’s also obvious that Ace had been staring at him instead of the ball, but there’s not a chance in hell he’ll ask that question out loud.

“Go!” Kalim points now, more an order than a suggestion, and for a second, Deuce sees the stubborn tenacity of their own dorm head in the gesture. “Floyd and I’ll fill in your spots and finish the game.”

Across the oasis, Ace is being forced to suffer the indignity of being examined by Azul while both Yuu and Grim hover nearby, pretending badly to be occupied with getting another snack.

“I don’t think your nose is broken,” Azul intones matter-of-factly as he tilts Ace’s chin back and forth with thumb and forefinger.

“Nah,” Ace grumbles, trying to look anywhere but actually at Azul. “Hit a little more forehead than bridge.”

“Still, a heal will assure you don’t end up with a concussion,” Azul lets go of Ace’s chin, reaching to draw out his magical pen. “As long as you don’t mind-”

“I don’t mind,” Ace cuts him off, fidgeting, wanting to escape as fast as possible.

Azul gives him a Look for interrupting, then continues lightly, pressing the tip of his pen against a small red bruise in the curve between Ace’s neck and shoulder. “As long as you don’t mind that it will also heal _this_.”

Ace’s eyes widen, just a touch, and then he blushes, far too obviously, and Azul’s grin widens almost imperceptibly. The mark Deuce left there last night has been visible all afternoon, but it’s the first time Ace has even _thought_ about it. His mouth opens and closes but before he comes up with a verbal response, there’s a crash behind them.

Both Ace and Azul whirl to see Grim and Yuu on the ground with one smashed plate of cookies between them.

“Sorry!” Yuu yelps, lightly cuffing Grim behind the ears until he apologizes too.

Azul sighs, shaking his head at the mess that someone that isn’t him is going to have to clean up, and then he taps his pen against lightly against Ace’s forehead with no further preamble so he can get back to watching Jade’s and Floyd’s speed in the water win the volleyball game.

Ace closes his eyes as he feels the magic rush over and through him, a cool and refreshing ripple that finally eases the throbbing in his skull, and when he opens them again, he’s startled to find Deuce’s bright aqua eyes gazing back at him.

“Are you really okay?” Deuce murmurs, reaching a hand towards Ace’s hair, but hesitating halfway through the gesture.

Ace’s stomach drops onto his toes at the depth of concern in Deuce’s eyes even as he reaches up to gently brush Deuce’s hand away with a scoff of, “Didn’t hurt nearly as bad as that very first cauldron.”

Deuce rolls his eyes at the response, but the tension has fallen out of his shoulders because if Ace is snarking at him, then he’s probably okay. "I was only trying to get you to stop. It's not my fault you were dodging your responsibilities."

“Hmph, maybe...” Ace huffs as he relaxes into the typical behavior they display in front of everyone else, a quiet way of somehow knowing that things between them are just fine. “Today’s still at least as much your fault as the chandelier was.”

"If you say so." Deuce grins, leaning in conspiratorially, voice low. "Guess I'll have to make it up to you later. Couldn't do that before."

Ace feels his cheeks flare hot. “I’ll hold you to that,” he murmurs back and then he elbows Deuce sharply to cover how his mind instantly runs away with that thought. Of course, this starts just enough play fighting between them for Yuu to jump up from the cookie mess to break it up and Grim to complain about being left to clean up the mess that’s definitely his own fault.

The volleyball game ends just as the sky is beginning to darken, the sun sinking towards the horizon line, and Kalim orders everyone out of the water before nightfall.

“The desert gets very cold after dusk,” he explains to Ace and Deuce once everyone’s dry and dressed again. “So it’s time to build a roaring bonfire and dance underneath the stars!”

“...dance?” Ace, Deuce and Yuu all echo the word simultaneously and Grim cackles gleefully at their mutual alarm.

“Don’t worry! It’s going to be amazing,” Kalim gushes with shiny eyes. “Especially if Jamil dances.”

Thankfully for all three of them, the dancing isn’t compulsory or partnered or as structured as things they’ve seen before. Instead, it’s an open space between the bonfire and the live music and the stars, where the drum beats reverberate in their feet and their chests, everyone moving to the rhythm in their own way, some of them singing along too.

None of the three are particularly gifted dancers, but Kalim is too difficult to turn down, especially when _not_ dancing would be more conspicuous, and so they all do their best to join in and learn what they can. Ace has fun playing with the intricate hand movements, as it reminds him of the gestures in card tricks and other sleight-of-hand magic, Yuu’s pretty quick at imitating Kalim’s general forms and shapes, and Deuce has the best stamina of them for keeping up with the speed of some of the songs, even if he also has a tendency to scramble his footwork and send them all crashing into each other.

Eventually, the circle widens to leave space in the center and different members of Scarabia take turns to solo – a competition as unique as the croquet tournaments in Heartslabyul. Each dancer has their own style, but by far the most impressive is Kalim, who dances with such joyfully reckless abandon that it’s impossible not to feel swept up in the wave of it…

...until Kalim finally wheedles a reluctant Jamil into the center of the group and the entire dorm falls into a hush. Jamil’s dancing is equally mesmerizing and completely in contrast to Kalim’s, a movement so sinuous and sensual that goosebumps crawl across the skin of those who are witnessing it for the first time.

Only once the circle closes in again and everyone starts to tire do they split off from the dancing to pack up the caravan for the return march, but the music continues even as they parade across the desert on their return to the dorm, echoing out into the vast emptiness of the dunes around them.

An exhausted Yuu ends up sandwiched between overprotective twins on the return journey, with Jamil leading the march and Azul riding atop the elephant with Kalim, leaving Ace and Deuce somewhat to themselves for the first time in hours.

“You know Kalim’s probably going to try and get us to stay,” Ace shakes his head in amusement as they walk companionably side by side, somewhere in the middle, but also on the outskirts of the group.

“Already did,” Deuce laughs a little. “But I told him we ought to catch the train back tomorrow ‘cause my mom is still expecting me for the holidays.”

Ace doesn’t answer for a long moment, the backs of their hands brushing now and then as they walk over the uneven sand. “So… tonight...”

“I figured we’d just stay in our own room back at Heartslabyul?” Deuce answers, and this time, he steals a glance over at Ace to find that Ace is already looking at him, a knowing glint in his eye.

“There won’t be anyone else there,” Ace points out, though he’s not disagreeing with the idea.

“I know,” Deuce says, and they leave it at that because neither of them wants to voice their thoughts out loud when there’s still this many people around.

Back at the Scarabia dorm, Kalim tries once more to wheedle them into staying, but Jamil points out that some of their own students will also be packing up tomorrow to head home for the rest of break and he finally relents.

“Don’t be strangers after the new year!” is the last thing he calls out to them as they step through the mirror that will take them back to the Hall of Mirrors. “You’re friends of Scarabia now!”

_o/~ Waiting upon a forest  
To rise up from the ground  
Learning what came before us  
Digging right down, down, down  
Our heads are feeling lighter  
Our legs weak at the knees  
So come on, hold me tighter  
Let's shine brighter,  
Let's be you & me ~/o_

Traveling between Scarabia and Heartslabyul is only the distance between two mirrors in the Hall, but the difference between them is truly summer into winter.

Instead of a tapestry of stars overhead, the overcast sky above them has finally given way to snow – big, fat, fluffy flakes slowly drifting down to land stark white against the black sleeves of their uniforms, dusting the rose trees with a sugary frosting. Tiny, twinkling fairy lights strung in the trees to celebrate the coming new year illuminate the path to the dorm, and they both shiver, breath visible in the frigid air.

In counterpoint to the magic carpet, this time it’s Deuce who holds out a hand to Ace.

Ace reaches out to take hold of Deuce’s hand, slowly interlacing their fingers, their touch feeling like an electric current, lighting him up.

Their eyes drift from their linked hands to each other’s faces, and when their gazes meet, they both know where tonight is going to end, even if neither of them has the nerve to say it yet.

Instead, they turn towards each other, leaning in until their lips meet, cold noses bumping as they kiss, soft and slow.

The wind picks up and they both shiver again, Deuce complaining that he can’t feel his toes anymore and Ace laughing and agreeing, and that gives them good reason to hurry down the path to the dorm, their linked hands swinging between them.

Exterior lights shine on the equally frosted building, but without anyone’s interior room lights on, Heartslabyul’s dorm looms over them, dark and silent. Inside, the temperature is tolerable and the lights respond to their presence, flickering to life as they walk through the empty building.

“Hello?!” Ace yells once they reach the main lounge, but as expected, no one answers them.

They’re truly all alone in the dorm and it’s quite a surreal experience.

In the quiet, the ticking of all the clocks around the room sounds unusually loud and despite the empty, there’s still… a _presence_ here, an eerie echo of all of the students who’ve passed through, all under the watchful eye of the Queen of Hearts.

Unable to resist the temptation inherent in this unique opportunity, Ace finally lets go of Deuce’s hand, tossing him a wicked little grin before sauntering across the room.

Deuce lifts a curious eyebrow, following him until Ace comes to a stop in front of the red velvet throne chair that their dorm head is frequently found sitting upon, presiding over meetings and parties alike. “You’re not...” Deuce starts, unable to keep an amused smile from creeping onto his face. _Allowed_ is how he ought to finish the sentence, but he already knows that won’t have any impact on Ace at all.

“Why not?” Ace laughs, tossing himself down onto the chair, crossing one leg over the other and directing an expression up at Deuce that somehow manages to be enticing and haughty all at once. “I’m going to be dorm head someday. Might as well get a little practice in.”

Deuce huffs a little laugh at Ace’s confident declaration, but that only incites Ace further, and he darts forward in the chair to grab ahold of Deuce’s tie, yanking him down and in.

“Unless you wanna fight me for it,” he teases against Deuce’s lips before closing the space between them with another kiss, this one far harder and more demanding than the one they’d shared outside.

Deuce answers the kiss as if it were the fight, chasing Ace’s tongue around with his own until he catches, sucks, draws a throaty little noise out of Ace. But then he leans one hand against the back of the chair, plush velvet under his fingertips, and Deuce’s brain catches up to remind him of exactly where they are. Breaking the kiss, he bursts into easily the most intense case of the giggles than Ace has ever seen him with, shaking his head sharply. “I can’t… not here.”

Ace rolls his eyes, even though Deuce’s laughter is too cute to actually be mad at, and besides, Ace is turned on and a touch giddy after that kiss. “Why the hell not?” he demands with a pout.

“Don’t you feel like...” Deuce voice drops low, as if he’s telling a secret and there’s someone here to overhear them. “...like he’s watching us, even though he’s not here?”

“What, Riddle?” Now it’s Ace’s turn to burst into sharp laughter, pushing Deuce aside as he hops up off the chair. “That’s not possible!”

“I know, but...” Deuce shrugs helplessly, still trying to reel in his snickers, one hand gesturing around the room. “Once I thought it, I couldn’t stop thinking it!”

“You’re so weird sometimes,” Ace teases him, but in his mind, the idea of their dorm head watching them hook up, secretly or not, is kinky enough for him to think there might be some merit behind it.

“Everyone at this school is weird,” Deuce offers in response, turning to lead the way to their room. “Including you.”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be,” Ace’s sentimental words slip out a little more honestly than usual, but he can’t deny that it’s the truth. Even though they’ve only been here a few months, he’s grown rather... _fond_ of Night Raven College, especially Heartslabyul.

“Heh, yeah,” Deuce grins as he pushes open the door to their room. “Every day here is a crazy one, but… today turned out pretty great, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, it really did...” Images of the day’s events flicker through Ace’s mind – flying above the desert, dancing under the stars, kissing in the snow – and he thinks that maybe he’d like to end it with one more extraordinary thing. “...but it’s not over yet.”

“No, not yet...” Deuce agrees as he locks the door behind them, half habit, half paranoia.

“Home sweet home,” Ace declares, kicking off his shoes and stripping out of his bag, his scarf, his winter jacket, his uniform jacket, all while watching Deuce do the same.

That’s as far as either of them get before they practically collide in the center of the room, Deuce’s hands in Ace’s hair and Ace’s hands already untucking his shirt as they meet in another heated kiss.

This is something they’ve also never done before – at least, not with such unhurried nonchalance – and they take their sweet time loosening each other’s ties, unbuttoning each other’s shirts and letting them slip off shoulders and carelessly onto the floor.

“I’ve been thinking about getting my hands on you all day,” Deuce is the first to admit as he presses a line of kisses across Ace’s bare shoulder, the boner he’s been struggling to stuff down all day fully roaring to life.

“Same,” Ace sighs, tipping his head aside even as he drags Deuce’s pants off his slim hips, letting them fall to join the pile of clothing strewn in a line across the room from the door to Deuce’s bed. “That _is_ why I got clocked in the head with a ball today.”

Deuce groans at the reminder as Ace steps out of his pants too, both of them fully naked now, Deuce’s hands running down Ace’s back to settle on his hips, cocks brushing teasingly against each other. “I _am_ really sorry about that,” he mutters sheepishly, “But I meant it when I said I’d make it up to you.”

“I know,” Ace’s lips quirk into the hint of a smile and then he pushes Deuce backwards onto the bed with a surprising amount of force. “And I will hold you to that.”

“Wait a sec,” Deuce’s brow furrows in confusion as he scoots further onto the bed, until his back is against the headboard. “I… I thought maybe you’d want me to suck...”

But the words die in Deuce’s throat as Ace follows him onto the bed on hands and knees, like a predatory cat as he straddles Deuce’s lap. Hands on Deuce’s shoulders, he rolls his hips, slowly grinding their arousals together. “Maybe...” he leans forward to breathe into Deuce’s ear, his heart pounding with what he’s about to imply. “Maybe that’s not how I want to be paid back.”

“Then… how...” Deuce murmurs, swallowing hard, slowly moving a hand to wrap around both of their cocks, guessing at what he means, but also waiting for Ace to elaborate.

Ace hums in pleasure, fingers tightening on Deuce’s shoulders at the touch, and he presses a kiss just underneath Deuce’s ear. “I want you to answer a question.”

“S-sure. Okay. Yes?” Deuce is even more confused now and Ace’s kisses are not making it any easier to properly respond.

Ace relents, slowly pulling back until their eyes meet, red on aqua, and then he murmurs, low, breathy, and entirely serious. “Deuce… do you wanna fuck me?”

All of Deuce’s gears immediately grind to a stunned halt. _Do I…_ His first impulse is to ask if Ace is serious, but the answer to that is obvious in Ace’s smoldering expression. His second impulse is to ask if it’s what Ace really wants, but considering he’s the one who asked the question, Deuce is pretty certain the answer to that is equally obvious. His last impulse, the deepest impulse, is to simply answer with the truth, and he blurts it out before he has time to overthink or second-guess it. “Y-yes...” he breathes out, then a second time, more sure of himself. “ _Yes_.”

“Good...” Ace can’t help the shiver of anticipation that rolls through him at Deuce’s response, and it’s that much easier to voice his own desires when he already knows they’re reciprocated. “...’cause that’s what I want.”

“I’ve never-” Deuce’s hand stalls where it’s wrapped around their leaking cocks.

“Me either,” Ace admits softly, but quickly adds, “But I’m also not clueless.”

“Neither am I,” Deuce insists with a swift little shake of his head. “But… I…”

Ace leans in to press their lips together in a surprisingly chaste kiss before he murmurs. “We’ll figure it out together.”

Deuce closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then he nods towards his bedside table. “There’s... lube in the drawer.”

A few moments of fumbling later finds Ace rising up on his knees, coating one of Deuce’s hands while trying to keep his own from shaking. He’s entirely relieved when he doesn’t need to give further instructions, but his whole body seizes up when Deuce reaches around him without any further lead in to press the tip of one finger against his ass hole. “Do it,” he intones in a tight voice, somewhere between permission and command.

Deuce complies almost immediately, his eyes fixed on Ace’s face as he presses one finger slowly inside him. Ace is tight and molten hot on the inside and it’s impossible for Deuce not to think about how it’s going to feel having his cock enveloped instead. He’s not impatient, though, because there’s no way he’ll enjoy it unless Ace is enjoying it too. “Like this…?”

“Y-yeah...” Ace sinks down on Deuce’s finger with a slow exhale, trying to get used to the unusual sensation, and then tips his face down to kiss the line of worry between Deuce’s brow and the smudged edge of the spade around his eye. “I’m fine – keep going.”

Tipping his face up, Deuce catches Ace’s lips instead, distracting them both with a messy, open-mouthed kiss as he carefully opens Ace up, a second finger pretty quickly joining the first.

Ace starts to move with him, riding Deuce’s fingers, one hand on his shoulder for support and the other drifting between them, stroking each of their cocks in turn until they’re both breathing hard, a sheen of sweat across their foreheads.

Deuce has three fingers buried to the second knuckle when Ace finally breaks their kiss with a full body shudder and softly demands for him to stop. He does so instantly, pulling his hand free, his pulse throbbing in his chest and his ears and his cock with the knowledge of what they’re about to do. “You… really...” he breaths as Ace shifts, re-positioning himself.

Taking Deuce’s cock in hand, Ace carefully guides it until Deuce’s tip is aligned against his hole. His mind is more than made up – he trusts Deuce – and he’s craving to know what it really feels like to - “I really do...” he breaths back, and his eyes are locked on Deuce’s as he makes good on those words, slowly sinking down, taking Deuce’s cock inside himself.

Ace’s eyes have dilated almost black with lust, only the tiniest sliver of red left, but Deuce registers the flicker of pain in them even as he’s completely overwhelmed by having Ace’s heat engulf his cock. “Ace...” he chokes out, both hands on Ace’s hips, thumbs digging in so tightly he’s probably leaving bruises.

Three fingers felt like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to having the full width of Deuce’s cock slowly splitting him open and Ace’s mouth drops open with a gasp and another shudder as he lets gravity do the rest of the work for him. “Deuce...”

“If it’s too much-”

“It’s not.” Ace still has the wherewithal to glare at Deuce, but then his forehead falls against Deuce’s shoulder and he doesn’t move for awhile, letting himself adjust to the intrusion as Deuce peppers his neck and shoulder with worried little kisses. “Just need a minute...”

Deuce takes Ace at his word, still and unmoving, his hands spread across Ace’s back, feeling the rise and fall of his shaky breathing until Ace lifts his face again. “Ace?” he asks softly, leaning in to press his lips against the smeared heart around Ace’s left eye.

Ace doesn’t answer as he slowly pulls off of Deuce’s cock, but then he rolls his hips down far faster and harder the second time and Deuce chokes out a noise of pleasure that makes him hum in satisfaction. “Does it feel good?” Ace finally cracks one of his typical crooked little grins as he watches Deuce slowly lose his composure, fooling himself into thinking he’s the one with Deuce at his mercy.

“Yessss...” Deuce hisses the word out with a shudder of his own, and though he’s tried his very best to be patient, he finally can’t help thrusting his hips up to meet Ace’s next downward roll.

Sparks explode behind Ace’s eyes as pleasure suddenly races through him like wildfire, unlike anything he’s ever felt before in his life. “F-fuck...” he chokes out, his rhythm and his control faltering. Deuce grins up at him with the audacity to be smug, but Ace has no time to waste being embarrassed about the noises he’s making when every roll of Deuce’s hips sends another shockwave through him.

“S’what we’re doing, isn’t it?” Deuce thrusts up again, bouncing Ace in his lap, gaining confidence now that there’s nothing but desire in Ace’s eyes, a mirror of his own. “Fucking?”

Ace laughs breathlessly, the sound sharp and bright to his own ears, his voice high-pitched and a touch delirious. He digs his nails into Deuce’s shoulders, answering with a single growl. “ _More_.”

Deuce’s response to that demand is all instinct and he uses his grip on Ace’s hips to roll them over, unconcerned when it dislodges him temporarily. It only means he gets to revel in the stunned expression on Ace’s face as he drags the other boys hips back into alignment with his own, pushing inside him again with one hard thrust.

“Ah!” Ace cries out loudly, his back arching as Deuce takes him properly, burying himself to the hilt with a groan of his own. He’s definitely not the one in control anymore, but that doesn’t stop Ace from rolling his hips up to meet every thrust as they seek out a rhythm together.

Searching for the way he’d made Ace keen earlier, Deuce finally drags one of Ace’s legs up and over his shoulder, driving deeper and faster into his lover. He can feel his orgasm creeping up on him already, but it only makes him even more determined to take Ace with him.

Ace has zero complaints about being completely at Deuce’s mercy, and the wild look in Deuce’s half-lidded aqua eyes as he fucks into Ace again and again, sending waves of pleasure ricocheting up his spine, is something he’s never going to forget. Seeking out his neglected cock, Ace wraps his fist around it, jerking himself in time with Deuce’s thrusts as he moans out an incoherent warning.

The sight of a thoroughly debauched Ace jacking off underneath him while taking Deuce’s cock in over and over is too erotic a sight for Deuce to handle. “Ace...” he groans and shudders, his movements growing erratic as he finally loses control, helplessly seeking out his release.

Watching euphoria rip across Deuce’s expression as he comes inside Ace’s body destroys the last shred of Ace’s sanity too. He spills hot over his own hand as he moans Deuce’s name one last time, eyes rolling back in his head as his mind blanks out in bliss.

Deuce lets Ace’s leg off his shoulder and collapses down into him, heaving uneven breaths and pressing light kisses into the curve of Ace’s neck until Ace’s arms come up around him, clutching at him with startling intensity. Eventually he slips out of Ace’s body, rolling them once more until he can gather Ace up against him, both of them far too spent to consider anything besides passing out right where they are.

_o/~ Take time just to make time  
'Cause I don't want you to leave  
Take time just to make time  
'Cause I want you to believe  
That we all have our own purpose  
Nothing's wrong and nothing's worthless  
Sometimes it just takes a little digging underneath the surface  
Pushing, pulling, overthrowing everything worth ever knowing  
Living, dying, loving, crying, trying, sighing, flying, soaring  
_ _High, high, high  
_ _Higher than the blue in the sky ~/o_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come follow us on Twitter @kitarinastala and @ekala71 if you also love Ace & Deuce~!
> 
> Special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment so far! We appreciate all of your kudos and support. <3


	6. December Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between 4-38 and 4-41.
> 
> [Playlist Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RgBHJisE7Y&list=PL1_0InctjP7wWTQzZ9ABcWg6xOnuAyhq9)

The sweet oblivion of dreamland comes to an abrupt halt when an insistent knocking on the door suddenly jars them both out of a dead sleep. Groggy and momentarily confused about when and where he is, Ace lifts his head from the pillow of Deuce’s shoulder and the previous day comes rushing back to him all at once.

_Deuce… he and I… we…_

Deuce’s naked body is so very warm against his under their shared blanket and Ace is loathe to even move, but it’s too late - the shot of adrenaline from the unknown variable at their door has already gone straight to heart and head.

“Mmph?” Deuce stirs at Ace’s movement, not quite awake enough to comprehend. “What - ”

Ace reaches up to cover Deuce’s mouth with one hand, shaking his head with the wide-eyed edge of panic. “Shh!” he whispers, feeling his pulse pick up. “We don’t know who it is! Could be Riddle, could be Yuu, could be...” Should they pretend to be gone already? Answer the door? Their clothes from last night are strewn haphazardly across the entire floor and -

Ace’s hand pressed to his lips and the sound of their dorm head’s name startles a confused and sleepy Deuce into a similar panic. “B-but. How – why - ” he mumbles behind Ace’s hand at about the same moment he realizes that they’re not even dressed right now.

“Hello~? You two awake yet~?! Want some breakfast~?!”

Heaving a great sigh of relief at the mercy of the Great Seven, Ace’s hand drops away from Deuce’s face as he registers the owner of the sing-song voice and he flops back onto the pillow.

It’s only Kalim.

Because, of course, even though they’d bid him farewell mere hours ago, Scarabia’s dorm head is already personally banging on their door to invite them over again.

“…I am now,” Ace finally calls through the door with just the slightest edge of sarcasm, and there’s a moment of silence before Kalim’s bubbly laughter echoes back at them.

“Ahaha, sorry if I woke you!” he apologizes. “Come over to Scarabia once you’re ready to go. Jamil’s cooking for everyone who’s heading home for the break today and I’ve a favor to ask you!”

Ace snickers under his breath when Deuce’s stomach growls at the mention of food and Deuce elbows Ace for his teasing as he answers this time. “Will do!” Besides, it’s impossible to say no to Kalim when he phrases it in such an inviting way.

They wait until the sound of Kalim’s footsteps disappear into the distance and then Ace tips his face up to Deuce’s for a kiss that’s soft, slow and lingering.

It also turns out to be the first, last and only one they manage to get all day.

“We could...” Deuce mumbles against Ace’s lips, one hand slowly fisting into his hair.

“I want to, but...” Ace reaches past him for his phone on the bedside table, tapping it to reveal the time.

“Fuuuuck...” Deuce mutters as they realize they have less than two hours to be back at the station, tickets in hand, to catch their return train home or be stuck here another day.

“Raincheck,” Ace grins regretfully and then they tumble out of opposite sides of the bed in a mad dash to make it in time.

First, showers and shoving everything back into their travel bags in a haphazard mess to be sorted out later, then it’s through the mirrors to Scarabia’s blisteringly bright morning and heaping plates of Jamil’s ridiculously delicious cooking.

Kalim’s favor is a request to lead the departing Scarabia students back through the mirror to the train station and they can hardly refuse him, especially when he’s already arranged for and purchased everyone’s tickets, including theirs.

There’s no private cabin this time, but instead a shared bunk with a few of the other students also headed in their general direction, and even though the time passes quickly with more friends to play bigger card games with, there’s not a moment alone to be had. No chance to talk, no chance to think, and only knowing little glances traded between them when no one else is looking.

When it’s time for bed, Ace steals a top bunk for himself and Deuce ends up opposite of him, across the aisle. Folding his arms under his head, Ace watches the light making faint patterns on the ceiling as he waits out the chit-chat of the others.

It honestly feels a little bit strange to be separated from Deuce after sharing a bed for the past two nights, but it turns out that he’s not alone in that thought. When the room finally falls to silence, Ace rolls onto his side only to find that Deuce is laying on his side already too, waiting for Ace to realize that he’s been watching him.

Deuce cracks a smile as their eyes meet and when Ace smiles back, he reaches a hand out across the space between them. Ace stretches out a hand in answer and their fingertips catch, linked across the distance as sleep claims them.

Back at the main hub the next day, they part ways with the students from Scarabia as everyone searches out the individual lines back to their respective towns, both lingering under the guise of making sure they’ve safely seen each one on their way as a favor to Kalim.

“Well, that’s everyone,” Deuce finally says a bit reluctantly as they stand side by side, waving off the last student.

“Unless you need me to walk you to your line too,” Ace tosses a crooked little grin at him, only half-joking.

“Nah, I know how to...” Deuce trails off as he realizes Ace is just being a shit again. “Oh, Shut.Up!” he nudges Ace a little harder than necessary, which only makes him laugh, the sound leaving Deuce feeling warm but also a little sad. “So… guess I’ll see you back at school?”

Ace’s laughter fades out as he nods, trying to ignore the weird sinking sensation in his chest. “Yeah, next year.” He’s always been the worst with goodbyes, whether temporary or permanent, and he doesn’t know how to make this less awkward, especially standing in the middle of the station.

“I’ll text you,” Deuce blurts out, because he can tell that something is a little off. He has no idea what it is or how to fix it, but he doesn’t really want to part ways today with this unspoken something hovering in the air between them. “Over the break.”

“Don’t wait too long or I’ll leave you on read,” Ace smirks, but he can’t deny his heart is a little eased knowing they won’t return to ignoring each other like they had at the start of the vacation.

“You better not!” Deuce snaps back, the familiar sniping an easy comfort zone for both of them. When Ace doesn’t say anything further, though, he lifts a hand to wave goodbye, Ace echoing the gesture a second later.

They both turn away to head in opposite directions to catch their trains home, taking the same three paces forward before abruptly pausing and spinning back sharply. Had anyone been there to see it, it would have appeared as if they’d planned the perfect synchronization.

“Ace, wait - ” “Hey, Deuce - ”

Cracking simultaneous grins at their sameness, they both shuffle awkwardly back towards each other again.

Ace raises an eyebrow expectantly, one hand on his hip, and Deuce once again blurts out the first thought to enter his mind, both hands clenched around the strap of his shoulder bag. “We could… we could hang out sometime? Over the holiday?”

Ace’s expression softens into an actual smile as he agrees, “Yeah, we totally could… go… somewhere?” It’s not as if he’s really thought about this any more than Deuce apparently has, but maybe that’s why he’s so willing to meet him halfway: It’s clear the desire to see each other again before school resumes is very mutual, even if they don’t have any idea what to do with it.

“Go...” Deuce echoes, and then he straightens a little, his eyes lighting up. “I did just get my Magical Wheel back from Idia’s repairs recently! It was shipped home from school when we first left for break, so it should be here any day now. And I could – _we_ – could go for a ride some afternoon?”

Chuckling at the obvious delight in Deuce’s suggestion, Ace leans in closer, his voice low and a little coy in response. “...are you asking me out on an actual _date_ , Deuce Spade?”

Deuce flushes immediately both from Ace’s tone and the use of his full name, but even the amount of his fluster isn’t enough to deter him. “Yeah, I… I guess I am. Asking you out on a date, Ace Trappola.”

“When?” Ace’s grin widens as Deuce rises to his challenge, feeling his own face warm in response to that determination.

“Well, I gotta take it for a good long test run first, once it arrives...” Deuce answers, his voice trailing off into an out loud mumble of his entire train of thought. “And mom’s probably not going to let me out of her sight after being gone the last three days, especially when I already promised to help her with the holiday shopping...”

“Deuce,” Ace cuts off the rambling with a playful roll of his eyes. “Just text me, okay?”

“I will, I promise,” Deuce asserts, lifting one hand in a fist. “I’ll let you know when I’m free, so… so it’s a date!”

Ace lifts a hand to bump the back of his fist against Deuce’s, amused at the sudden surprise in Deuce’s aqua eyes at the answer to his gesture. “Then it’s a date.”

Deuce leans in impulsively, his lips just barely grazing Ace’s cheek, right at the edge of his heart. “Seeya soon.”

Confident in his decision, he doesn’t turn back when they part ways a second time, missing how Ace pauses and glances back over a shoulder, a fond little smile on his face, fingertips pressed to the place Deuce had just kissed him.

* * *

_o/~ And do you ever feel like you're alone?  
And do you ever wish to be unknown?  
I could say that I have  
I could say that I have ~/o_

Waiting outside the front door of his house for Deuce to arrive, Ace doesn’t want to admit to himself that he’s at all nervous. There’s no reason to be, after all – it’s just an afternoon of hanging out with Deuce, who he’s used to spending nearly every day with anyway.

It’s not a big deal.

And it’s definitely _not_ going to feel like the last time he was on a date, back in Middle School...

_Ugh._

Ace really doesn’t want to slip into thinking about _that_ , so he pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through the pages of messages and pics and dumb Magicam links he and Deuce have exchanged over the last week.

Lately he’s gotten used to waking up to pics from Deuce out on his morning run (which he claimsis because he made a promise with Jack that he wouldn’t let his speed and stamina slip over the break), usually selfies or interesting clouds, but the last pic received this morning had been a shot of the Magical Wheel with the pastel winter sunrise behind it.

Thinking about the fact that Deuce is on the way here right now gives Ace a quiet little thrill that chases away the echoes of last year.

_Today’s going to be a great day._

He’s just about calmed himself down when the door cracking open behind him makes Ace jump and he immediately shoves his phone back into his pocket as he levels a glare at the interloper. “Go awaa~y,” he sing-songs rudely at his older brother, an obviously fake smile plastered on.

“Are you _sure_ you don’t want to invite Deuce inside for a minute so I can meet this Night Raven friend you’ve been texting non-stop all week?” Ace’s brother’s face appears in the half-open doorway with an enormous shit-eating grin that’s anything but innocent. “Aren’t you cold standing outside?”

“No, and also no, and kindly fuck off,” Ace shoves a hand directly into his brother’s nosy face while attempting to reach for the doorknob with the other.

He’s been on Ace’s case for days now pretty much every time Ace so much as picks up his phone, always asking if it’s “Deuce texting _again_ ”. It’s his own fault, really, because his brother knows him too well – knows his habits and his mannerisms and his tells – and even if he hasn’t directly come out and asked Ace if Deuce is more than a friend, Ace can tell he’s _suspicious_.

And while Ace has confided plenty to his brother in the past, this isn’t something he wants to talk to anyone about yet... or maybe at all.

Ace’s brother only laughs in the same careless way he always does, closing the door with a parting, “Don’t get into _too_ much trouble, _little_ brother.”

Ace rolls his eyes and huffs as the door closes again, but he doesn’t really have time to stew about it because as he turns around to face the road, he realizes that Deuce’s Magical Wheel has just pulled up.

Lifting a hand in greeting, he jogs towards Deuce as the other boy climbs off the cycle and pulls off his helmet. He’s dressed in the same black leather jacket, dark jeans and combat boots he’d been wearing on their train trip and Ace has to admit that he’s sorry he doesn’t get to see Deuce dressed like this at school. It’s a pretty smoking hot look on him, especially with the bright eyes, mussed hair and enormous grin as icing on top.

“Hey!” Ace grins back, happy to see him and trying hard to ignore the nervous hammering in his chest. “Sweet ride.”

“Thanks!” Deuce beams at him with obvious pride, then immediately turns and ducks down, fiddling with something attached to the Wheel. “Oh, I, uh – I have something for you.”

The words remind Ace that he also has something he wants to give Deuce too, but he’ll be damned if he’s going do that here and now when there’s a plenty good chance his brother is spying on them from one of the windows. “Oh yeah?” he says casually instead, curious and genuinely surprised when Deuce finally straightens up, gift in hand.

“Well, you should have one to ride safely with me and I figured you probably didn’t own one, so I got one for you.” Deuce thrusts the helmet out in front of him, suddenly feeling nervous about the thing he’s spent the last week convincing himself is a perfectly reasonable present to give to Ace.

This isn’t stolen french fries at lunch or fancy bread on his birthday, though, and for a second, Ace is genuinely startled by the depth of his usually clueless friend’s thoughtfulness. “I, uh… thanks...” He mumbles, accepting the helmet and turning it round in his hands as he tries to think of something less inane to say. “Interesting color scheme?” He raises an eyebrow at Deuce over the top of the red helmet, emblazoned with a black heart on the left side. “Why not black with a red heart?”

“Heh, well...” Deuce shifts awkwardly, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, trying to remember what he’d rehearsed on the way here. “When I first got sorted into Heartslabyul, I was really excited and wanted to put a spade on my helmet -”

“Only _after_ you got sorted?” Ace interrupts with a chuckle. “Even though it’s your last name?”

“Shut up!” Deuce huffs and shoves Ace lightly on the shoulder. “It seemed like a lame idea when it was just my last name, but then...” He gestures to the mark around his eye. “Anyway, as I was saying – my helmet’s black, though, so I painted the spade in red to keep with our dorm’s colors. And since I know red’s your favorite color, I thought it’d be okay if yours was the opposite of mine, black on red instead...”

Deuce trails off from his rambling as he watches Ace slowly blush, high in his cheeks, looking from the helmet to Deuce and back again, but when Deuce shifts, leaning in as if he means to kiss Ace, Ace suddenly takes a step back and lifts the helmet instead, tugging it swiftly over his head.

“Thanks...” Ace mumbles, both wanting and refusing to look back at the house to see if they’re being watched. “It’s really...” Nice? Cute? Thoughtful? He can’t quite find the right word to describe his feelings, possibly and probably because he’s suddenly overly aware of the hot tangle of them pulsing in his chest.

“I know, I know, it means both the colors are wrong and I made us into a matched set, even though Cater’s already always teasing us, calling us -” Deuce starts again, somewhere between an explanation and an apology, but Ace interrupts him with a sharp shake of his head, the sunlight glinting off the helmet as he moves.

“...I like it,” he says firmly, meeting Deuce’s eyes and holding his gaze until the other relaxes again.

“...it looks good on you,” Deuce shrugs and smiles, breaking the eye contact by shoving his own helmet back on. He can tell that Ace’s response is sincere, but there’s an ease missing from their conversation that makes him just a little edgy. “...you okay?”

“Yeah - can we go?” Ace points at the Magical Wheel and Deuce nods, climbing back on and offering Ace a hand.

“Anywhere you want to go?” he calls back over his shoulder as Ace settles behind him.

Ace wraps his arms around Deuce’s middle, hands slipping under the leather jacket until he can feel the other boy’s warmth through his sweater. “Somewhere else! Not here!”

Deuce considers the words for a moment as he focuses on his magic, exploring the difference of having two riders on the Magical Wheel. “Hold on tight!”

_o/~ And do you ever feel things here aren't right?  
And do you ever feel the time slip by?  
I can say that I have  
And I can say that I have ~/o_

As they put some distance between his home and the day’s forthcoming adventure, Ace relaxes a little, comfortably holding onto Deuce and tipping his head to the side just enough to watch the scenery go by. Once they get outside of his local area, he doesn’t really know where they are anymore or where they’re going, but there’s no hesitation in Deuce’s smooth driving, so he’s content to wait and see.

Riding his Magical Wheel is one of Deuce’s favorite things to do and having his best friend riding with him makes all the effort he put into restoring it and having Idia take a look at the engine even more worth it. Ace’s arms are really tight around him to start with, but as they ride, Deuce can feel him slowly calming down, looking around and leaning into the turns along with him.

Once Ace finally dares to creep a few cold fingers under the hem of Deuce’s sweater while they’re stopped at a traffic light, seeking out warm skin, Deuce grins to himself and asks over his shoulder. “Wanna get something to eat?”

“Yeah, sure!” Ace nods, his helmet bumping Deuce’s shoulder lightly, his hand spreading slowly across Deuce’s abs until he lets out a ticklish little laugh.

Deuce nods back, directing their ride off the road and into the parking lot of an outdoor market set up for the holidays. He’s been here a few times in the past with his mom and hopes Ace won’t mind them stopping off to pick up one of her favorite cakes too.

It’s only a couple days before the new year, so it’s decorated to the max with garlands of lush greenery and twinkling lights, and packed with people of all ages out shopping, eating and enjoying the crisp, clear December day.

“There’s a lot of different stuff to eat here,” Deuce starts as they climb off the Magical Wheel and secure the helmets. Ace rolls through a stretch that bares a strip of skin around his middle and Deuce just stares for a moment, completely forgetting what he was about to say, his mind flashing him fragments of the last time he’d seen Ace unclothed.

They still haven’t talked about it. Not really.

“What are you in the mood for?” Ace grins, thinking of the day they’d wandered the festival at the Magift tournament together. “Takoyaki?” When he doesn’t get an answer, his eyes twinkle and he teases, “Or maybe some churros? ...Deuce?”

Deuce’s brain doesn’t click on again until Ace says his name and then he answers with the first thing he thinks of. “Cake.”

“Cake?” Ace raises a confused eyebrow as he laughs. “That’s what you wanna eat for lunch?” He nudges Deuce with one elbow and starts towards the market, continuing to snicker as Deuce shakes himself and hurries to fall into step beside him.

“No! That’s not what I – nevermind - I was about to ask if you’d mind if I stopped at a stand to pick up one of my mom’s favorite cakes. To surprise her.”

“Such a mama’s boy, Deuce,” Ace teases him good-naturedly. “But nah, I don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” Deuce nods and then after a moment’s hesitation, he slips his hand into Ace’s, squeezing tightly and enjoying how Ace immediately flusters, but also doesn’t pull away.

“Lunch first?” Ace mumbles instead of meeting Deuce’s eyes, pointing at a nearby crepe stand.

They end up ordering two crepes to share – one savory with ham and cheese, and the other sweet with strawberries, bananas and chocolate – and find a table amongst the crowded seating area set up at the edge of the market beside the food vendors.

The market is bordered by a local park and as they trade the crepes back and forth, Ace notices that there’s a skating rink set up not too far away, a few dozen people gliding in circles around it. He has no idea if Deuce actually has anything specific planned for this… _date_ … but Ace tends to lead with his intuition, and so he asks casually as he’s licking chocolate sauce off a few of his fingers. “You wanna go ice skating? Before we pick up that cake?”

Truthfully, Deuce has absolutely no idea how to ice skate and the question sets off an immediate wave of internal panic. He’s never even tried before, but… so what? Ice skating sounds like the quintessential cute date activity and while he has a few ideas for things to do today, he’s not particularly tied to most of them... so if Ace wants to do something, shouldn’t he at least try? “Sure!” he nods enthusiastically as Ace grins back at him.

Besides, how hard can it be?

The answer, as Deuce discovers a short while later, is _painfully_ hard.

While Ace steps onto the ice and seems to glide effortlessly forward, Deuce takes one step and immediately ends up sprawled on his ass, his tailbone throbbing with the force of gravity.

Ace immediately starts laughing at Deuce’s startled expression. “I guess it’s been awhile, hmm?”

“Uh, well, haha…” Deuce avoids answering directly, trying to laugh along with Ace as he uses the side of the rink to haul himself back up.

“Wait a sec...” Gears turn as Ace watches Deuce awkwardly inch along the ice until he’s at least out of the flow of the incoming skaters. “Have you ever actually been ice skating before?”

“Not exactly?” Deuce offers him a sheepish smile.

“Then why didn’t you tell me?!”

“You didn’t ask?”

“So why did you say yes?!” The angry words are hardly out of Ace’s mouth before he recalls himself – _younger,_ _eager, foolish,_ _not wanting to disappoint_ _her_ _,_ _even at_ _my_ _own expense_ – and he continues with vehemence, voice rising. “You didn’t have to say yes if you didn’t want to!”

“But I did! Do!” Deuce snaps back, more frustrated with himself than Ace. He doesn’t want this to be yet another thing in his list of screw-ups.

“You don’t have to do something just because I want to do it,” Ace mutters, one hand shifting to his hip. “Even if I… I know I sometimes goad you into shit at school.”

“I’m not!” Deuce insists, but the moment he tries to let go of his grip on the edge of the rink to reach out for Ace, he wobbles precariously. “I said yes because it looked like something fun to do together!”

Deuce’s firm response cuts through Ace’s foul memories, returning him to the present, and he grumbles a little as he finally relents. “You coulda just asked me to teach you.”

Deuce colors a little with his embarrassment, but then he sucks it up and lifts his chin a little. “Will you?”

“Will I?”

“Teach me?”

Deuce looks so deeply determined that Ace can’t help but crack a smile, tsking loudly and rolling his eyes. “S’not like you’ve left me any choice.”

“That’s still a yes,” Deuce grins, shifts, and then grabs at the railing around the edge of the rink again.

“First of all, your skates are not laced nearly tight enough in the ankles,” Ace answers, gliding forward and putting one knee to the ice. “If you’ve got floppy ankles, you’re never going to have enough support to balance properly. First thing my older brother taught me when he and my dad took me skating as a kid...”

Staring down at the coppery fluff of Ace’s hair as he re-ties Deuce’s skates, Deuce suddenly feels very lucky. He’s more than aware that he can be frustrating to deal with, and akin to when their dorm head had taken the time to personally tutor him in math, he feels grateful to have people in his life who care enough about him to have such patience. “Right, no floppy ankles,” he repeats, just to make sure that Ace knows he’s listening attentively.

“Okay!” Ace straightens up again and offers a hand to Deuce in an attempt to get him off the side of the rink. “We’re gonna go out to the center of the rink so we’re not blocking the circular flow until you get the hang of the basics.”

“Sure...” Deuce reaches out to grab Ace’s hand, relieved to find that true to Ace’s words, it’s already a little bit easier to keep his balance.

“Just stay steady and I’m literally going to pull you with me, okay?” Ace glances over his shoulder to look for an opening in the traffic, Deuce’s hand tight in his own.

“Okay.”

Deuce does his best to remain calm and stable as Ace slowly tugs him across the ice, explaining as they go. “You can’t _walk_ on ice the same way you would on land, at least, not very easily.”

Glancing around at the other people skating, Deuce can kind of see what Ace means. “But I don’t know how to start.”

Ace continues, turning until he and Deuce are standing side by side, hands still clasped. “You have to push off and glide – like, you know when the floors at Heartslabyul have just gotten waxed? And you make the mistake of going to the bathroom in your socks in the middle of the night?”

Deuce laughs at the visual, but he nods, and, watching Ace’s slow-motion movements, mimics the push off with one foot. With Ace to stabilize him, they glide a few feet together before naturally coming to a stop again. “I-I did it!” Deuce enthuses, his eyes lighting up with the small success.

“You did!” Ace agrees with a cheeky grin. “And now you have to push off from the other side, get a rhythm going...” He tries to lead again, but the opposite side proves more difficult for Deuce, who catches the toe of his blade on the ice, sending himself crashing down and taking Ace with him this time.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He apologizes immediately from where he’s sprawled halfway underneath Ace, grateful he’d at least broken their fall.

Ace only laughs with a shake of his head. “You really need to chill out a little!”

“I don’t know how to chill out when I’m learning something new!” Deuce protests as Ace rolls off of him and somehow easily back to standing while Deuce, sitting on his ass again, struggles to figure out how to get his feet back under himself again. Hands and knees, it is, then.

“Nonono,” Ace holds out a hand to give Deuce enough leverage to stand up again. “What I mean is – you can’t skate if you’re stiff as a board.”

Deuce wobbles a little as Ace lets go of his hand to circle behind him instead, reaching out to place his hands on Deuce’s hips. “You have to be able to shift your weight back and forth evenly and you can’t do that if you don’t loosen up.”

“Then I don’t know if I can do it,” Deuce sighs as Ace tries to direct him physically into how to shift back and forth. “I keep thinking about falling on my ass again.”

“That’s a real shame,” Ace sighs back even more dramatically, before leaning in close to intone softly into Deuce’s ear. “Cause you’ll never get to experience how _fast_ you can go.”

Deuce shivers at Ace’s lips so close to his ear, but the other boy is gone an instant later, skating out and away from Deuce in long, powerful glides. It’s unfair for Ace to tease Deuce with his own weakness – his love for running and riding and flying and feeling the wind in his hair – but he has to admit… there’s hardly better motivation.

Not letting Ace leave him in the dust might also figure in to the equation.

Ace returns to skate slow circles around Deuce as he practices and once he’s got a basic rhythm down, Ace holds out his hand again with a proud grin. “Let’s go.”

It only takes half a dozen circles around the rink before Deuce is as fast as Ace is, at which point, Ace lets go of his hand to spin around and then starts to skate backwards instead. Beckoning the other boy with one curled finger, Ace laughs as Deuce chases him around the rink, right up until they end up colliding while trying to avoid a group of slow children.

They go crashing to the ice one final time and this time it’s Ace who ends up underneath Deuce, both of them laughing and out of breath, and Deuce can’t resist leaning down to brush his lips against Ace’s cheek, right at the bottom point of his heart. “Thanks for teaching me. It’s been really fun.”

Looking up at Deuce from this position reminds Ace of only one thing, but his face is red enough from the cold to hide the instant blush that overtakes him in response. “C’mon, the ice is _cold_ ,” he complains, and thankfully, Deuce is finally coordinated enough to be the one offering a hand up to Ace.

Ace’s hands feel as cold as the ice itself when Deuce reaches out to grab one and as they take a final turn around the ice towards the exit, Deuce asks him, “Wanna warm up with some cocoa?”

All of the awkward tension from the start of their day has completely drained away and Ace easily squeezes Deuce’s hand in his own, a warm grin on his rosy-cheeked face. “Sounds perfect.”

With scaldingly hot cups clutched between nearly frozen fingers, they next make their way back towards the market to pick up the cake for Deuce’s mom.

“Do you have time for more?” Deuce asks him as they wander slowly across the parking lot back to where the Magical Wheel is parked, hands still linked.

“I’ve got all day, if it’s to spend with you,” Ace’s genuine thoughts slip out before he has the chance to consider the words, but the flustered smile he gets from Deuce in response means there’s no reason to regret them.

“Then let’s go for another ride. There’s a place I want to show you.”

_o/~ So hear this please  
And watch as your heart speeds up endlessly  
And look for the stars as the sun goes down  
Each breath that you take has a thunderous sound  
Everything, everything's magic ~/o_

Deuce takes the highway that runs along the ocean first, the setting sun sparkling on the water as the road slowly rises into the foothills of the nearby mountains. They can ride much faster out here and as the traffic thins, he pushes the Magical Wheel, grinning when he both hears and feels the vibration of Ace’s laughter behind him.

Their exit is a far more narrow local road that climbs up quickly through a dense line of of pine trees that eventually splits into a magnificent overlook. The heart of the city is laid out in the valley below them as they roll to a stop, all of the lights just beginning to twinkle on in the violet of twilight.

It’s incredibly picturesque – romantic, even – and if Ace wasn’t so impressed, he’d want to tease Deuce for picking out such a scenic spot. But it’s gorgeous and he loves it, and so he doesn’t have any fucking idea what to say. His heart is suddenly racing a mile a minute and the tiny thing he’s been carrying around all day feels like it’s burning a hole straight through his pants pocket. “Quite the view...”

“I know, right?” Deuce pulls his helmet off and Ace follows suit, and they leave them secured to the Wheel before wandering a little closer to the edge of the overlook. Ace is quieter than usual and when he doesn’t ask why Deuce has driven them out here, Deuce finds himself compelled to try and find a way to word everything that’s been swirling around in his head on the ride here.

“I always thought I was getting freedom, skipping out on school and running around the city with a bunch of idiots. Even though I had magic, it felt like I wasn’t really any good at anything, y’know? But then I saw this Magical Wheel in the window of a second-hand shop and I just… instantly wanted it. So I started doing odd jobs around the building, fixing people’s broken electronics, walking dogs, and doing research on the internet about how to tune it up. My friends thought I was nuts. My mom was worried I was gonna hurt myself.”

Deuce’s eyes are fixed out on the horizon line, but Ace doesn’t want to interrupt him, curious as to where his rambling is going. In his pocket, he fiddles with the chains of the two pendants, the metal growing warm between his fingers.

“...but when I finally got the chance to ride it? To realize I actually _could_ harness my magic? I guess it… it made me believe I could actually go to Night Raven College. And that gave me a kind of freedom that made all that other bullshit pale in comparison.”

“So… why _this_ place?” Ace finally asks, bumping his shoulder against Deuce’s.

“Ah, someone I really admire recommended it to me when I first got the Wheel. Someone who I guess… believed in me,” Deuce flashes Ace the tiniest grin. He’d been thinking for awhile about wanting to bring Ace here, but he was still trying to untangle all the reasons why. Having Ace not give up on him this afternoon was just one more reason to add to his growing list. “It’s my favorite place to ride to and I… I just wanted to share it with my best friend.”

It’s cold enough to see their breath in the air, but Ace can’t tell at all because his entire body feels overly warm as he pulls his hand out of his pocket. He’s been searching for the right moment all afternoon and even if he’s not the one with the words right now, he could hardly ask for a better set-up. “I… have something I wanted to share with you too. Give you. A present, in return for...” Ace gestures towards the helmets behind them, cursing himself inwardly for stumbling over his words.

It’s not like him at all.

“They’re… really fashionable right now… so I thought it’d be cool...” But even as Ace says the words, he knows he’s full of shit and wonders if Deuce will call him out on it.

Wearing sorta-matching necklaces isn’t a typical thing to do. He’s been worried that maybe Deuce would think it’s too girly or sentimental, and a part of Ace definitely fears that rejection, but... after the helmets this morning and the story just now, he thinks maybe they really are on the same wavelength.

The last rays of sunlight catch on the silver of the two small, rectangular pendants as Deuce turns to look at Ace, genuine surprise in his aqua eyes. They’re shaped like tiny playing cards, each enameled with their symbol, and Ace has both of them dangling from one fist, a nervous little crooked grin fixed firmly on his face.

Deuce hesitates when he reaches out, wondering for a moment what Ace would think if he grabbed the one that was clearly intended to be Ace’s instead, if they wore each other’s symbols...

It’s a sharp and sudden moment of gut realization, hand outstretched as he reaches for the two of spades, that he really does… want Ace to be _his_. Wants to be Ace’s. Wants for this to really mean something, for them to be… “Ace?” he asks softly as Ace lets go of the spade, letting it drop into his hand.

“Hmm?” Ace asks, fiddling with the clasp as he puts the ace of hearts around his neck.

“Ace, I...”

Ace’s hand stills on the pendant as he adjusts where it sits, his entire body freezing up in a moment of internal panic. Is Deuce about to confess to him? To say those three little words? He’s not ready for that at all. Ace hasn’t even let himself think about it, consider it – he doesn’t know what he’d say, how he’d explain that he can’t just casually toss those words around, not after what happened in Middle School, not after -

“...Iwantyoutobemyboyfriend.”

The words come out in such a rush that it takes Ace a few seconds to process them. On the one hand, there’s the instantaneous relief that it isn’t what he’d feared, but on the other hand, it’s something else he was entirely unprepared for, and so rather than an actual answer, he automatically deflects. “What does that mean?”

“What? I… ” Deuce fumbles both his words and the necklace, almost dropping it. All of his thoughts and feelings spill into each other as he wonders if he’s said the wrong thing again – if it’s too late to take it back, pretend it was a joke and - “I don’t know, exactly...”

Ace reaches to take the necklace out of Deuce’s shaking hand, opening the clasp as he asks softly, “Do you... want anything between us to change?”

“N-not really?” Deuce leans in as Ace fastens the necklace around his neck, taking a deep breath as Ace’s fluffy hair tickles his cheek, then exhaling it in a single word. “Why?”

“You’re not gonna go…” Ace makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat, avoiding Deuce’s eyes as he pulls back and adjusts the pendant, his hand lingering against Deuce’s collarbone. “I dunno, hash-tagging it all over Magicam?”

“What? You know I only have that account so Cater can tag us in all the dorm photos…” But even as he’s saying it, Deuce realizes that maybe Ace feels awkward about what the other boys at school will think, despite the necklaces. He hadn’t stopped to even consider that, since he’d spoken impulsively from the heart. “I… we… we can keep it to ourselves, if you want?”

“Can we? For now?” Ace finally feels the edge of panic finally ebbing as he realizes that Deuce isn’t really expecting anything different out of him. “Keep things just as they’ve been?”

“...when other people are around? Yeah, sure.” Deuce doesn’t really care what anyone else thinks about him and he’s got his cauldrons and his fists to back it up, but it’s kinda cute, actually, he thinks, that Ace seems to be shy about this. He can’t resist the urge to tease him at least a little for it, considering the amazing amount of things Ace is always teasing him for. “But maybe when we’re alone, I could… call you... boyfriend?”

Ace can sense that Deuce is teasing him now based on the wicked little glint in his eyes as he says the word ‘boyfriend’, and the fact that they can mess with each other, same as ever, even here and now, drains away the last of his worry. He can’t help but rise to Deuce’s challenge, always. “Sure, _boyfriend_ ,” he drawls back with an arch of one brow and mischief in his eyes.

Hearing that word roll so easily off of Ace’s tongue puts the most enormous grin on Deuce’s face and he reaches out to take Ace’s face between his two hands, silencing his boyfriend’s soft laughter with a demanding kiss. Ace opens up to him immediately, the kiss deepening into something hot and intense that seems to convey far more than what either of them is able or willing to put into words.

Letting both body and mind melt into the embrace they’ve both wanted all day, Ace kisses Deuce until he feels light-headed, and even once they break apart, all it takes is a flash of a grin traded back and forth before they collide in a second round. When he shivers, he’s not sure if it’s from the cold or from how turned on he is from making out with Deuce.

“It’s pretty chilly now that the sun’s gone,” Deuce says against Ace’s lips when they part a second time. His hands have migrated to Ace’s back, holding the other tight against him while Ace’s arms are wound loosely around his shoulders, sharing what warmth they have. “...you want me to take you home?”

“Don’t wanna go home yet,” Ace sighs and pouts, leaning more of his weight against Deuce.

“Uh, well...” Deuce tries to unscramble his mind but he can still feel his pulse pounding in his fingertips from the feverish way they’d just been kissing. “We could get dinner somewhere. Or you could probably come over to my place if you want, but my mom can be… a lot to handle? She’d probably make us dinner too, though… I’d have to call and ask her first.”

“Yes,” Ace says promptly, because the alternative is parting ways again and he’s not ready for this day to end yet.

Deuce pulls his phone out of his pocket and a minute later he’s on the line with his mom, blushing his way through a conversation he’s a bit embarrassed to let Ace overhear. But despite the deluge of questions he gets, the ultimate answer is still a yes, and so they climb back onto the Magical Wheel with their destination being his home.

_o/~ Just sit back and hold on, but hold on tight  
Prepare for the best and the fastest ride  
And reach out your hand, and I'll make you mine  
Everything, everything's magic ~/o_

Ace doesn’t waste time being nervous, enjoying all the lights as they ride down the mountain, the sea now a dark ink blot under a starry sky as they head back towards the city. No, his nerves catch up to him only once they’ve parked, engulfing him in a swell as he watches Deuce retrieve the cake from the storage compartment.

“You really sure this is okay?” he murmurs, his hand on Deuce’s arm as he glances up at the warm and welcoming light over the front door.

Deuce shrugs and smiles. “I’m only gonna say that I warned you.”

Ace chuckles, “Seriously? How bad can she be?”

Deuce shakes his head, leading the way to the door with a mumble of, “You’ll see.” Pushing it open, he then calls out loudly. “I’m home!”

“Welcome home!” A voice calls back and then a face appears, leaning out of a doorway and into the hallway with twinkling green eyes and a bright smile. “And welcome to our house, Ace!”

Ace lifts a hand in greeting and once they’ve kicked off their sneakers and boots and hung up their jackets, he follows Deuce down the hallway to the kitchen. They’re immediately subjected to a firing round of questions - about how their trip was, whether they want dinner now or later, when they last ate, if Ace has any allergies or food preferences – with no space to answer any of them until Deuce finally interrupts her.

“Mom, it’s fine, just make whatever’s easy!” Deuce holds out the box of cake in hopes that it will be a momentary distraction from her further interrogations. “We picked something up for you at the market.”

“Oh my god, you boys brought me a cake!” she exclaims with immediate stars in her eyes, beaming first at Ace and then at Deuce. “Seems like Ace is a good influence on you, then!”

Ace wants to protest, seeing how the cake was Deuce’s idea, but Deuce just shakes his head over the top of his mother’s head to tell him it’s not worth it.

Deuce’s mom is really interested in pretty much anything they’re willing to tell her about their day or their school and proceeds to throw together dinner while asking Ace a hundred more questions (What’s your mother’s maiden name? Does your household have any pets? What’s your zodiac? What’s your favorite subject at school?), some that Deuce hadn’t even thought to ask himself.

Ace answers every single one of them as honestly as he can, laughing off only a few here and there with casual deflection and well-placed flattery. In return, she launches into at least a dozen ridiculous stories about Deuce as a kid, culminating in her deep pride over his returning to middle school and finally passing the math requirement for graduation.

“Mo~om!” Deuce complains, burying his mortified face in his hands. “That’s not impressive at all!”

“Ah, but without it, you wouldn’t be at Night Raven!” she waves a spoon in Deuce’s direction and he ducks as several grains of rice go flying at his face. “And you wouldn’t have met a friend as kind and charming as Ace here!”

Now it’s Ace’s turn to feel a touch mortified, although he’s also equally entertained by seeing first hand where Deuce gets his stubborn and brash true nature from, much as he’s probably loathe to admit it.

Deuce’s mom finally plunks two plates of omurice down in front of them and both boys thank her profusely. The edges of the egg are just a bit burnt and the ketchup smiley face is running off the side, but it smells great and it’s clearly made with a whole lot of love.

They both devour the meal and then Ace excuses himself to the bathroom, leaving Deuce alone in the kitchen with his mom while he cleans up the dishes for her. It’s quiet for a moment that almost makes him feel uneasy, but then his mom speaks up from behind him where she’s slicing the cake at the table.

“It’s really sweet, what good friends you two have become.”

Deuce almost drops the dish he’s wiping, but manages to catch it as he stammers, “Best friends, yeah.”

“The necklaces are cute,” she continues, setting each piece of cake carefully on a plate. “I remember having things like that with my friends too.”

Deuce swallows hard and flushes a little, uncertain what to say, but he’s saved by Ace’s return, as much as it means Ace is back to being her target again.

“It’s already so late!” she prods, pushing a plate of cake towards Ace as they both sit down at the table again. “Are you really going to drive him all the way home at this hour, Deuce? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather just stay the night, Ace? It’s certainly much safer to drive home in the daylight, especially in this cold weather!”

Ace and Deuce exchange a look over the tops of their cake plates and Ace shrugs. “I mean, I probably could, as long as I call home to say where I am?”

And this is precisely how Ace and Deuce finally end up escaping from his mother: Ace puts her on the phone with his older brother after enduring a teasing “Are you really gonna leave me alone to play Solitaire?” to prove he’s been invited to stay and the last thing they hear before they disappear into Deuce’s room is the echo of her laughing over something they’re probably better off not knowing.

“Sweet relief! Let them probe each other for more embarrassing stories instead,” Ace snickers, leaning his back against the door once it’s closed.

“I’m honestly amazed you could handle her that well,” Deuce shakes his head, standing in the center of his somewhat messy room. He’s really wishing that he’d tidied up a little more, but he also wasn’t expecting when he rolled out of here this morning to end the day with Ace… with his _boyfriend..._ spending the night.

“Have you even taken out your school books yet?” Ace asks casually, letting his eyes wander over the space, which doesn’t look all that different from Deuce’s usual mess at school. More jeans and less ties, a bookcase full of haphazard stacks of books and manga and DVDs, which upon closer inspection seem to be mostly action or … old gangster films? He grins a little to himself, but Deuce catches him staring at the shelf and elbows him sharply before he has a chance to tease.

“Nooo,” Deuce groans, beginning to kick stuff into a corner and picking things up to shove back onto the bookcase or his desk. “But I bet you haven’t either.”

“Not even once,” Ace laughs, accepting a stack of magazines from Deuce and placing them on the desk beside the bookcase. Above the desk a corkboard is mounted and Ace leans in to examine it, smiling when he finds a picture of an obviously younger and terribly gangly-looking Deuce in a track and field uniform pinned up beside two ribbons. In the photo, he’s clutching one of them proudly, his other hand clenched in a fist of triumph, despite the fact that it’s definitely not a first place finish. “Wow, didn’t know your running history went back so far! Nothing from Middle School, though?”

Deuce shrugs as he shoves some of his clothes into the laundry basket in his closet, trying to clear enough space to roll out the spare futon on the floor beside his bed. “I was technically on the team, but… they stopped letting me participate in meets after I bleached my hair blond, so I started skipping practice and ended up missing most of the season.”

“Guess you’re making up for lost time now, then,” Ace smiles as he straightens up, but can’t resist teasing a little. “And Night Raven’s rules are way looser when it comes to hair color, so if you wanted to go blond again - ”

“No thanks,” Deuce laughs with a shake of his head. “I think I’m fine the way I am.”

“I think you are too~” Ace’s grin widens as he flirts and Deuce blushes and his mother picks that exact moment to knock on his door, startling them both half out of their skin.

“Extra blankets and towels are in the hall closet,” she greets them, opening the door at about the same second Deuce hollers “It’s open!”

“Your brother’s a real dear, Ace,” she continues, handing him back his phone. “I stuck a few cans of soda in the fridge for you and there’s a box of cookies and probably some half-finished bags of chips in the pantry in case you get hungry.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Deuce waves at her, but it’s not enough to save them from one last parting comment.

“And at least give the boy some pajamas to wear, Deuce! You two are probably about the same size, right? Okay, well, I’ll be watching television until I fall asleep, probably on the couch, but don’t worry about waking me if you do come to the kitchen. It’s my own fault for falling asleep there instead of in my own bed.”

“Goodnight, Mom.” Deuce actually physically leans against the door and flushes with embarrassment when she leans in to kiss his cheek before letting him shut the door and lock it behind her.

Ace dissolves into laughter muffled behind both hands and it takes him the entire duration of them rolling out the futon to stop slipping back into little snickers. “So… gonna lend me your clothes… _boyfriend_?” Ace teases Deuce softly once they’ve set up the futon.

“If you want to...” Deuce mumbles, but he’s smiling because Ace called him boyfriend again and he thinks he could get used to hearing that.

It’s a terribly unfair thing to be expected to strip in the same room as Ace, to watch Ace pull on a pair of Deuce’s own faded blue pajama pants and a spare t-shirt, and not be turned on by it. It’s impossible, really, and Ace knows it too, because he’s buzzing with the same weirdly giddy energy that’s been ricocheting between them since that heated make-out on the overlook.

“How do I look?” Ace asks him cheekily, one hand on his hip, the other in the air. Deuce’s pajamas are soft and they smell like him and trying to ignore it is driving Ace a little crazy, so Deuce should at least be made to suffer along with him.

Deuce bites his lip and turns away from Ace’s posing, pretending to fuss with something on his desk because if he doesn’t give his hands something to do, they’re going to be in Ace’s hair while he pins his boyfriend to his bed and - “You can have my bed and I’ll sleep on the floor,” he manages to get out. “I honestly don’t mind.”

Ace isn’t about to be deterred so easily, though, especially when that’s an argument they can save for later. Closing the two steps between them, he wraps arms around Deuce from behind, hands slipping under his t-shirt, nuzzling into the hair at the nape of his neck as he whispers, “You really want to go to sleep right now?”

“Ace, I… f-fuck, I really don’t want to, but...” Deuce groans, turning in Ace’s arms and taking him by the shoulders. “My mom is _literally_ down the hall and she’s _de_ _fi_ _nitely_ still awake and I – I - ”

Ace places one finger over Deuce’s lips with a soft laugh. “Not saying I don’t want to make out with you feverishly right this second, cause that’d be a lie,” Ace waits until Deuce stops frowning to continue. “But we could like, I dunno… play cards? Watch a movie?”

“Yeah, sure, okay...” Deuce relaxes a little, kissing the tip of Ace’s finger before he pulls it away.

They sprawl out together on Deuce’s bed on their stomachs to watch one of his favorite action flicks, with Ace teasing him over how many lines he feels the need to direct quote along with the movie. Ace also mocks the entire plot right up until the one twist he didn’t quite see coming and then it’s Deuce’s turn to laugh at him instead.

And it’s totally fine and relaxed until the credits roll and Deuce flips the tv off... and then suddenly they’re alone in the quiet and the dark, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip.

_o/~ And do you ever lay awake at night?  
And do you ever tell yourself don't try?  
Don't try to let yourself down  
And do you ever see yourself in love?  
And do you ever take a chance, my love?  
Because you know that I will ~/o_

It’s way too easy to slowly and wordlessly roll onto their sides, exchanging little grins in the shadowy moonlit room before tipping their faces towards each other, eyes drifting closed and lips meeting in the softest brush of a kiss.

And then Deuce pushes Ace over, inserting a knee between his legs while searching out Ace’s hand, pinning their linked hands beside their heads before kissing him again. Ace weaves his other hand into Deuce’s hair, biting teasingly at his lips until Deuce licks into Ace’s mouth with a frustrated little growl.

Shifting underneath him, Ace tries to better align their hips, but there isn’t as much space to work with as they’re used to having at school. Success comes at the cost of whacking an elbow into the wall, which makes Deuce jump, the bed squeak, and the kiss break with a mutual gasp of pleasure as they finally feel the hard press of their growing arousals against one another.

“Fuck,” Deuce mutters, burying his face against Ace’s shoulder, the metal of their matching necklaces clinking at they collide.

Ace can feel how fast Deuce’s heart is pounding when they’re this close and he presses a shaky kiss against his boyfriend’s temple. “We can stop,” he whispers, squeezing Deuce’s hand, still intertwined with his own. He doesn’t want to, but he won’t push Deuce into anything he really doesn’t want to do, especially in this situation.

“...don’t _wanna_ stop,” Deuce whispers back with just the slightest roll of his hips against Ace’s, enjoying the way Ace’s breath catches hard in response.

Using the hand in Deuce’s hair as leverage, Ace tugs until their eyes meet and then whispers, entirely seriously. “Then floor. Now.”

Deuce doesn’t bother arguing, but instead carefully disentangles himself from Ace and slips off the bed until he’s sitting in the middle of the futon. He can’t quite believe what he’s about to do in his own bedroom with his mother asleep just down the hall, but when Ace looks at him with such fire in his eyes, he can’t find it in himself to stop. “Ace...”

“Deuce...” Ace whispers back, sliding off the bed and onto his knees. With one hand to the center of Deuce’s chest, he pushes the other boy over as he straddles him, bringing their hips back together as one of Deuce’s hands settles on the small of his back.

Leaving a trail of kisses down Ace’s neck, Deuce reaches with his free hand to drag aside the collar of the ( _his_ ) t-shirt until he can renew his mark against Ace’s collarbone.

Ace hisses at the sharp flash of pain, grinding the full length of his cock against Deuce’s, only the thin fabric of their pajamas between them. “Wish we could fuck again.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“Oh my god, no way,” Deuce breaths against Ace’s collarbone with a tiny huff of laughter before letting his lips travel back up the other side of Ace’s neck, rolling the chain of his necklace with the flat of his tongue. “You were _so_ loud last time.”

Ace flushes hot as Deuce drags his tongue along the sensitive spot under Ace’s ear and then he grins down at Deuce with a hint of evil mischief in his half-lidded gaze. “I could fuck you instead.”

Deuce muffles his groan against Ace’s neck at the thought. “Also no way. But not cause I don’t… y’know...”

“Want to?” Ace’s shit-eating grin widens and he leans down to steal another kiss from Deuce’s lips.

“I can’t guarantee I’d be any less loud,” Deuce protests in between Ace’s kisses. “I...” No, he really wants to be alone with Ace if they’re going to do that. Not here and not now.

“Well, if keeping quiet is what you’re really worried about...” Ace starts coyly, kissing the tip of Deuce’s nose. “Then I think I have an idea.”

“You...” Deuce starts but immediately trails off as Ace deftly reverses his position, until his breath is warm against Deuce’s cock, until Ace’s cock is mere inches from his lips, restrained only by the elastic waistband of Deuce’s own pajama pants. “F-fuck...” he mutters again.

“No,” Ace corrects in a breathy whisper, on knees and elbows as he slowly drags down the waistband of Deuce’s pants until his hard and leaking cock springs free. “ _Suck_.”

Deuce’s breath catches in a strangled little noise as Ace descends on him, tongue swirling around the head of his cock, his mind temporarily whiting out into static with pleasure. He can feel the vibration of Ace’s laughter around his cock, mocking him just enough to get him moving again lest he be bested in yet another challenge between them.

Keeping his balance while sucking Deuce’s cock down his throat isn’t that difficult until Deuce finally shakes off his stupor, dragging the pajamas pants off Ace’s hips with one swift twist of his wrist. Fisting Ace’s cock in his hand, he jerks him off slowly instead of sucking him off, just because he knows it drives Ace absolutely bonkers. Sure enough, he can feel his boyfriend whining after a few minutes, the sound vibrating through Deuce’s cock and making him shiver.

By the time Deuce finally stops torturing him and lets Ace’s cock slip past his lips and into the heat of his mouth, Ace can tell it’s because he really isn’t far off either.

Reality blurs and narrows to just the two of them and this moment, every bit of pleasure given to the other person echoed back around in an endless circle until they’re both completely lost to each other.

Does Deuce come because Ace is coming or is it the other way around?

Their release is as simultaneous as they’ve ever been and Deuce grips Ace’s ass with both hands to steady him until they’ve stopped shuddering and shaking.

Ace collapses down against him with a heavy, sated sigh, but Deuce wiggles out from underneath, crawling on hands and knees until he can pull Ace into his arms and kiss him, long and slow.

They stay that way, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, legs tangled, until the room begins to go gray with the light of pre-dawn, and then Ace climbs back into Deuce’s bed and drags the blanket over his exhausted body.

When he rolls over to see if Deuce is already asleep, he finds his _boyfriend_ looking up at him from the futon with a sleepy and contented smile, hand outstretched, the silver of his necklace glinting in the light.

Just as they’d done not too long ago, Ace reaches out to catch his hand, fingertips linking, heart feeling overly full with things he’s still too terrified to name.

_o/~ Reach out your hand, and I'll make you mine  
Everything, everything's magic ~/o_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that it's been so long since the last update! I've been working on this for awhile - really needed to cheer myself up after what we have of the Pomefiore episode wounded me! (Please make up sooooon!!!)
> 
> As the story unfolds and we learn more about the world of Twisted Wonderland and the stories of these characters, it may come to pass that something I've written becomes inaccurate when compared to the game's narrative - if I can adjust it, I might, but I also might not. I'm writing this out of love and for fun. Any "inaccuracies" are just my own imagination, so please be gentle. 
> 
> Also, since the main story is slow to progress, there's a good chance I might write some other Ace & Deuce scenes (possibly about their events), loosely based on this verse, but as separate stories.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Come find me on Twitter @kitarinastala if you want to yell about Ace & Deuce or Twisted in general!


End file.
